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The State of Ohio

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Tens of thousands cast ballots in the first week of early voting. And the first of two conversations about the redistricting overhaul known as Issue 1 with the author of the amendment, who has strong words about the campaign. Studio guest is former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor.

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00:00:38	Tens of thousands cast
00:00:38	ballots in the first week
00:00:42	of early voting.
00:00:43	And the first of
00:00:43	two conversations
00:00:44	about the redistricting
00:00:44	overhaul known as issue
00:00:46	one, this time
00:00:48	with the author
00:00:48	of the amendment
00:00:49	who has strong words
00:00:49	about the campaign.
00:00:51	That's this
00:00:51	week in the state of Ohio.
00:01:12	Welcome to the state of Ohio.
00:01:14	I'm Karen Kasler.
00:01:15	Early voting is underway in
00:01:15	Ohio as of Tuesday at 7:00 am.
00:01:19	State House correspondent
00:01:19	Sarah Donaldson
00:01:21	started early on the first day
00:01:21	to talk to people
00:01:23	who are also getting a jump
00:01:23	on casting their ballots.
00:01:26	I'm here at the Franklin
00:01:27	County Board of Elections,
00:01:27	where early voting
00:01:29	has been underway
00:01:29	for more than an hour.
00:01:31	There's not a line outside,
00:01:31	but there's a queue inside,
00:01:35	and it's busy, but it's moving
00:01:35	pretty fast.
00:01:37	The parking lot
00:01:37	has been bustling.
00:01:41	In central Ohio,
00:01:41	the earliest voters Tuesday
00:01:44	morning were met with brisk,
00:01:44	sunny fall weather.
00:01:47	Tom Brown, from northwest
00:01:47	Columbus
00:01:49	says from the front door
00:01:49	to the exit door,
00:01:51	it took him about 20 minutes
00:01:51	to vote
00:01:53	at the Franklin
00:01:53	County Board of Elections.
00:01:55	The busy parking lot
00:01:55	gave him pause,
00:01:57	but he says it turns out to be
00:01:57	a seamless process.
00:02:01	It's not rocket.
00:02:01	Science is voting.
00:02:02	It's something
00:02:02	that we have a right to do.
00:02:04	Brown says he had no reason
00:02:04	to wait for more weeks,
00:02:07	but everything pretty much
00:02:07	baked in at this point.
00:02:09	You know the issues,
00:02:09	you know what's there.
00:02:11	You know where you've been.
00:02:13	You know where you want to go.
00:02:15	So it's like driving a car.
00:02:16	Don't look back, look forward.
00:02:18	With more than 1.3
00:02:18	million people living within
00:02:20	Franklin County's
00:02:20	borders, it's the state's
00:02:23	most populous county,
00:02:23	according to the last census.
00:02:26	Regular voters here
00:02:26	are accustomed to long lines
00:02:29	at the county single
00:02:29	early voting center.
00:02:31	But the board has added
00:02:33	square footage
00:02:33	and more machines
00:02:34	since the March
00:02:34	primary election.
00:02:37	There's a couple of businesses
00:02:38	that have gone out of business
00:02:38	up here in our in our block
00:02:41	that we've
00:02:41	the county has taken over.
00:02:42	Board spokesperson
00:02:43	Erin Sellers
00:02:43	says this should mean
00:02:45	lines will form outside
00:02:45	less often, with more
00:02:48	dedicated room to queue inside
00:02:48	out of the elements.
00:02:51	We think that we'll be able
00:02:51	to vote
00:02:53	about 1000 people an hour,
00:02:54	which is certainly
00:02:54	an increase
00:02:56	from what we've been able
00:02:56	to do in past years.
00:02:57	So the hope is, is that
00:02:57	we can mitigate the lines.
00:03:00	Obviously,
00:03:00	there's gonna be
00:03:00	a lot of people that come,
00:03:02	there are going to be lines,
00:03:02	but certainly
00:03:04	we can move through them
00:03:04	pretty quickly.
00:03:06	Although the historic
00:03:06	presidential election
00:03:08	is drawing
00:03:08	Ohioans to the polls
00:03:10	down, ballot races
00:03:10	have some serious pull, too.
00:03:13	This is the first presidential
00:03:13	election.
00:03:15	19 year old Levi Freeville
00:03:16	is eligible to vote in,
00:03:16	but they said
00:03:18	issue one was almost equally
00:03:18	a priority for them.
00:03:22	After making the drive
00:03:22	with a friend
00:03:24	who also attends Wright
00:03:24	State University
00:03:26	the night before,
00:03:27	Freeville voted
00:03:27	yes on the proposed
00:03:29	constitutional amendment
00:03:30	that changes Ohio's political
00:03:30	redistricting process.
00:03:34	Politicians
00:03:34	have a lot of control over
00:03:36	how they decide
00:03:36	how the people are grouped,
00:03:39	and it should be decided
00:03:39	by the people that live there,
00:03:42	not the politicians.
00:03:44	But Freeville did not vote
00:03:46	in the second largest
00:03:46	race in the state
00:03:47	and one of the tightest
00:03:47	in the country.
00:03:49	The US Senate race between
00:03:49	incumbent Sherrod Brown,
00:03:52	a Democrat, and challenger
00:03:52	Bernie Marino, a Republican.
00:03:56	Later in the day,
00:03:56	both men rallied nearby.
00:03:59	Alice Poindexter,
00:03:59	from the South Linden
00:04:01	neighborhood
00:04:01	says her vote is less for her.
00:04:03	These days, I'm
00:04:03	voting for my grandchildren
00:04:07	and their children.
00:04:09	This means the future
00:04:12	of our country and the future
00:04:12	for them as well.
00:04:15	Early voting runs through
00:04:15	November 3rd at Ohio's 88
00:04:19	county Board
00:04:19	of Elections, and Election day
00:04:19	is November 5th.
00:04:23	Sara Donaldson, Statehouse
00:04:23	News Bureau.
00:04:26	The Secretary of State's
00:04:26	office reports almost 110,000
00:04:29	ballots have been cast
00:04:30	by mail, in person
00:04:30	or deposited into drop boxes.
00:04:34	Over a million absentee
00:04:34	ballots have been sent out.
00:04:37	One driver
00:04:37	for many voters is issue one,
00:04:39	the complicated amendment
00:04:39	to overhaul
00:04:41	the redistricting process used
00:04:41	for the first time in 2021,
00:04:45	the Ohio Redistricting
00:04:45	Commission approved maps
00:04:48	that were ruled
00:04:48	unconstitutionally
00:04:50	gerrymandered seven times
00:04:51	by the Ohio Supreme Court's
00:04:51	three Democrats and Republican
00:04:54	Chief Justice
00:04:54	Maureen O'Connor.
00:04:56	A federal court allowed
00:04:56	the maps to be used in 2022.
00:05:00	And after O'Connor retired
00:05:01	that year,
00:05:01	the maps were tweaked
00:05:03	and then unanimously approved
00:05:03	earlier this year.
00:05:07	I'll be talking to both yes
00:05:07	and no campaigns this week.
00:05:10	Maureen O'Connor,
00:05:10	the author of the amendment.
00:05:12	The amendment requires
00:05:12	maps to be drawn
00:05:15	based on a proportionality
00:05:15	formula
00:05:17	that corresponds closely
00:05:17	with the results
00:05:18	of the last six
00:05:18	statewide elections.
00:05:21	So if voters
00:05:21	approve issue one,
00:05:21	that would mean the results
00:05:23	of statewide elections
00:05:24	in 2018, 2020
00:05:24	and 2022 would be factored in.
00:05:30	So so right now,
00:05:31	without factoring
00:05:31	in the results of 2024,
00:05:33	because we don't know
00:05:33	those yet,
00:05:35	there will be a breakdown
00:05:35	about 57%
00:05:36	Republican districts,
00:05:36	43% Democratic districts.
00:05:39	Is my math correct?
00:05:41	I don't know,
00:05:41	I don't do the math
00:05:41	for that kind of thing
00:05:43	because it doesn't matter
00:05:43	to me how the chips fall.
00:05:48	Just so it's a fair process
00:05:52	in the map drawing,
00:05:53	and that's
00:05:55	one of the most important
00:05:55	things
00:05:56	that I can
00:05:56	communicate about this
00:05:58	is that this is not an effort,
00:05:58	like many people
00:06:02	deceptively
00:06:02	are saying, to turn Ohio blue.
00:06:05	That is not the intent
00:06:05	of this, amendment.
00:06:10	It is to have citizens
00:06:10	draw fair
00:06:15	representatives,
00:06:15	voting districts
00:06:18	for the state House
00:06:18	and for Congress.
00:06:22	And people are excited about
00:06:22	this, and with good reason.
00:06:28	And there's, you know,
00:06:28	so many reasons why they are.
00:06:32	And I'm sure we'll get into it
00:06:32	in our conversation.
00:06:34	But this proportionality
00:06:34	that you mentioned
00:06:38	is in the Constitution now.
00:06:40	Okay.
00:06:41	It just goes back ten years
00:06:43	in when we passed legislation
00:06:43	in 15 and 18.
00:06:46	The citizens, by the way,
00:06:46	those amendments were drafted
00:06:50	by the legislature.
00:06:52	They were not a citizens
00:06:52	initiated, amendment.
00:06:56	This one is
00:06:56	this is purely citizens.
00:06:59	So when
00:06:59	they were, drafted in
00:07:04	the current
00:07:05	process, as in our Ohio
00:07:05	Constitution, now, they do
00:07:10	mention, you know,
00:07:10	this proportionality.
00:07:13	And it was a factor
00:07:13	in the seven maps
00:07:16	that we declared
00:07:16	unconstitutional.
00:07:18	And I'm going to give you
00:07:18	an example, if I may.
00:07:22	You know,
00:07:22	you're going to have districts
00:07:23	that are going to lean right
00:07:25	red and you're going
00:07:25	to have districts
00:07:27	that are going to lean
00:07:27	Democrat. Okay.
00:07:29	And these are the districts
00:07:31	we're talking about
00:07:31	either proportionality
00:07:33	in the districts
00:07:33	that they wanted to tag as.
00:07:37	And this is in the past, these
00:07:37	these gerrymandered maps.
00:07:40	They wanted to tag
00:07:40	as Democratic.
00:07:43	It was 50.003 favor
00:07:43	a Democrat,
00:07:49	you know, name or,
00:07:49	you know, designation
00:07:52	50.003 now, to me,
00:07:52	that's a toss up to anybody
00:07:57	that's a toss up. Nope.
00:07:57	That's in the D column.
00:07:59	And that's going to meet
00:07:59	the criteria in the R column.
00:08:02	There wasn't anything
00:08:02	near the 50.003 that they had
00:08:08	in the Democratic,
00:08:08	you know, column.
00:08:11	So if that isn't an indicator
00:08:11	that there's
00:08:15	something wrong,
00:08:15	then I don't know what is.
00:08:19	I mean, there's many others,
00:08:19	obviously.
00:08:21	The way that amendment
00:08:21	was written, both 15 and 18,
00:08:25	but probably the most,
00:08:28	damning thing
00:08:28	in our constitution now
00:08:32	is the what I call
00:08:32	the Trojan horse.
00:08:35	It's the redistricting
00:08:35	commission.
00:08:37	It's the make up of
00:08:37	the redistricting commission
00:08:40	that's embedded in the
00:08:40	constitutional amendments.
00:08:44	Nobody thought
00:08:44	too much of it at the time.
00:08:46	And why?
00:08:46	Because it was a trust.
00:08:49	You know, exercise.
00:08:52	We're going to
00:08:52	trust these politicians
00:08:54	that are populating
00:08:54	the redistricting commission
00:08:57	to do the right thing,
00:08:58	to have integrity,
00:08:58	to operate in good faith.
00:09:01	All right.
00:09:03	Silly, silly us.
00:09:05	You know, it
00:09:05	the system's broken.
00:09:08	It's broken
00:09:08	because politicians, occupy
00:09:12	all seats in the redistricting
00:09:12	commission.
00:09:14	And politicians will.
00:09:17	Number one, preserve their own
00:09:17	personal power and status,
00:09:21	in, government.
00:09:23	And they were also going
00:09:23	to try and strengthen
00:09:27	their party's presence.
00:09:29	Their party's power.
00:09:31	And to do that,
00:09:31	they gerrymander.
00:09:33	Ohio's one of the ten worst
00:09:35	gerrymandered, states
00:09:35	in the country.
00:09:37	Not a very noble distinction,
00:09:37	but it's true.
00:09:41	And I also want to be
00:09:41	very clear.
00:09:44	Gerrymandering is not just,
00:09:44	something done by Republicans
00:09:48	and something done by,
00:09:48	you know, and not Democrats,
00:09:52	because there's plenty
00:09:52	of examples across the country
00:09:55	where states that have
00:09:55	a majority, Democrats have,
00:09:59	you know,
00:09:59	engaged in gerrymandering.
00:10:01	So it's it's a, I call it
00:10:01	an equal opportunity offender.
00:10:06	The commission that would draw
00:10:06	this, these maps would start
00:10:10	with a pool of 90 candidates
00:10:11	to be whittled down to 45,
00:10:11	and then the 15 members
00:10:13	would be selected
00:10:13	from that pool.
00:10:16	All of this involving
00:10:16	a professional search firm
00:10:18	that's screening
00:10:18	these candidates.
00:10:20	How do you find 90 people
00:10:20	in Ohio?
00:10:22	30 each
00:10:22	from both major parties
00:10:24	and 30 unaffiliated voters
00:10:26	who want to participate
00:10:26	in the redistricting process,
00:10:29	but who are not currently
00:10:29	or formerly politicians,
00:10:33	lobbyists or people
00:10:33	with connections to politics.
00:10:35	Other states have done it,
00:10:35	and they've done it.
00:10:37	You know, by
00:10:37	just having people apply.
00:10:41	There will be an application
00:10:41	process.
00:10:43	There'll be an application
00:10:43	to fill out.
00:10:45	And that application
00:10:45	will allow
00:10:48	the volunteer, the citizens,
00:10:48	to begin the process.
00:10:53	All right. We have,
00:10:56	you know what?
00:10:57	Almost 12 million people
00:10:57	here in the state of Ohio.
00:10:59	And I do believe
00:10:59	that we're going to be able
00:11:02	to come up with, 15,
00:11:02	15 and 15,
00:11:06	and then whittle that down
00:11:06	to five, five and five,
00:11:10	five hours, five days
00:11:10	and five independence.
00:11:12	I'm not concerned about that.
00:11:14	And I'm not concerned
00:11:14	about the quality of citizen
00:11:17	that is going to step forward.
00:11:18	This is going to be
00:11:18	an opportunity
00:11:20	unlike anything else
00:11:20	we've ever had in Ohio
00:11:24	for citizens to take charge
00:11:24	of their government.
00:11:28	You know,
00:11:28	we have a representative form
00:11:29	of government, obviously,
00:11:29	and we as citizens bestow
00:11:34	our trust
00:11:34	on the people that we elect.
00:11:37	And this legislature, has
00:11:37	and some statewide
00:11:42	office holders
00:11:42	have time and time again
00:11:46	thumbed their nose
00:11:46	at the citizenry.
00:11:49	Did things that were
00:11:53	contrary
00:11:53	to the wishes of the people.
00:11:56	And then don't respect
00:11:56	how the people voted,
00:12:00	you know,
00:12:00	and people are tired of it.
00:12:03	They are tired of it.
00:12:05	And this is a
00:12:05	this is an opportunity.
00:12:07	The Republicans, most of those
00:12:07	who oppose
00:12:10	this are Republicans,
00:12:10	including some elected
00:12:10	officials.
00:12:12	They claim
00:12:13	the amendment would require
00:12:14	gerrymandering because of this
00:12:14	proportionality formula.
00:12:17	If you are drawing lines
00:12:18	to ensure
00:12:19	a certain number
00:12:19	of Republican districts,
00:12:21	a certain number of Democratic
00:12:21	districts.
00:12:23	Isn't that gerrymandering?
00:12:24	Well, the definition
00:12:24	of gerrymandering,
00:12:28	contains the word unfair
00:12:31	to draw districts
00:12:31	that are favorites
00:12:35	of, you know, hours, days
00:12:35	and a proportionality.
00:12:38	You know, I like to call it
00:12:38	proportionality.
00:12:40	And it is
00:12:43	the gerrymandering
00:12:43	is doing that unfairly.
00:12:47	Okay.
00:12:47	And also
00:12:47	there is no requirement
00:12:51	that what you said 5743
00:12:51	or something like that.
00:12:55	Okay. That's
00:12:55	those are guidelines.
00:12:57	All right. They're not.
00:12:58	Oh, you have to
00:12:59	have you know that
00:12:59	that proportion, that ratio.
00:13:03	What those guidelines
00:13:04	will tell us
00:13:04	is if the districts are drawn
00:13:08	in such a way
00:13:08	that it totally exceeds
00:13:11	the 57% and thereby, you know,
00:13:11	does not even approach
00:13:16	the 43, that is an indicator
00:13:16	that there's gerrymandering
00:13:20	going on. Okay.
00:13:21	So that to me is is the role
00:13:21	of those, those numbers.
00:13:27	You look back six years.
00:13:29	Currently you look back
00:13:29	ten years.
00:13:31	All right.
00:13:32	And but it's the same process
00:13:32	of, identifying
00:13:37	trends when you have
00:13:39	citizens, voters
00:13:39	who obviously declare
00:13:44	based on their, you know,
00:13:44	their primary participation.
00:13:49	Now, you know, I,
00:13:50	I'm sure that your listeners
00:13:50	know this, but, the vast
00:13:53	majority of registered voters
00:13:53	in Ohio are independent.
00:13:57	Okay.
00:13:57	I think over
00:13:57	70% are independents.
00:14:00	We always talk about hours
00:14:00	and days like they're the,
00:14:03	you know, the be all and end
00:14:03	all as far as the control.
00:14:06	Well, yeah, because those are
00:14:06	the folks that are elected.
00:14:09	And so there's a lot of
00:14:10	independents that participate,
00:14:10	I would presume, in the,
00:14:14	you know, in the voting
00:14:14	for either an red.
00:14:16	But there's so many,
00:14:16	that feel they,
00:14:19	they don't have a choice
00:14:19	because of gerrymandering.
00:14:22	The no.
00:14:22	One campaign claims
00:14:24	that out-of-state
00:14:24	special interests
00:14:26	want to create a commission
00:14:27	that will have virtually
00:14:28	unlimited power
00:14:28	to spend Ohio's tax dollars
00:14:30	with zero accountability
00:14:30	to voters.
00:14:32	I want to ask you about that.
00:14:33	And I want to start with
00:14:33	the idea of accountability.
00:14:35	That seems to be at the root
00:14:35	of why previous votes
00:14:38	to create an independent
00:14:38	commission to do
00:14:39	redistricting
00:14:39	did not pass in 2005 and 2012.
00:14:43	So how do you address that
00:14:43	concern about accountability
00:14:46	when these commissioners
00:14:46	are not elected officials?
00:14:50	Okay.
00:14:50	Every basis to your question
00:14:50	is rooted
00:14:53	in the opposition's,
00:14:53	false narrative.
00:14:57	All right.
00:14:57	I want to start there.
00:14:59	They talk about
00:14:59	accountability.
00:15:01	They talk about a blank
00:15:01	check.
00:15:03	They talk
00:15:03	about all this nonsense
00:15:05	that if they read
00:15:06	the Constitution,
00:15:06	they would see the parts,
00:15:09	the paragraphs
00:15:09	in our proposed amendment
00:15:12	that address
00:15:12	exactly what you're saying.
00:15:14	Yes, there will be,
00:15:14	a 15 member commission.
00:15:18	Now, as far as accountability,
00:15:18	if someone is not doing
00:15:21	their job,
00:15:22	it says in the Constitution
00:15:24	they can be removed
00:15:24	from the commission.
00:15:27	All right.
00:15:27	And they're the people
00:15:29	they're working with
00:15:29	will be the ones
00:15:31	that say, hey, you're missing
00:15:31	meetings.
00:15:33	You're, you know, slacking
00:15:33	off, and it's not fair.
00:15:36	And we're going to, you know,
00:15:36	vote you off the island,
00:15:39	so to speak.
00:15:40	And and that is right
00:15:40	there in the Constitution.
00:15:43	So when they say there's no
00:15:44	accountability,
00:15:44	no way to get rid of them,
00:15:46	they know they're lying.
00:15:46	All right.
00:15:48	And the next thing
00:15:48	you talk about and oh,
00:15:53	and by the way,
00:15:54	they're only coming together
00:15:54	to draw the maps.
00:15:57	They're not going
00:15:57	to be operating for ten years.
00:16:00	You know, this is
00:16:01	this is a very condensed
00:16:01	period of time
00:16:04	that they have to come up
00:16:04	with a product.
00:16:06	And that product is a map
00:16:06	for both the General Assembly
00:16:10	and Congress.
00:16:12	So you know,
00:16:12	people have to understand
00:16:14	that this is not just about
00:16:16	who's in Columbus represented,
00:16:16	but who's in Washington.
00:16:19	And,
00:16:19	so the bill have a condensed
00:16:23	period of time
00:16:23	by which they are required
00:16:25	to have met milestones
00:16:25	in the process
00:16:28	of getting to the maps.
00:16:30	And when those maps
00:16:30	are passed,
00:16:32	and by the way, the whole
00:16:32	process is transparent.
00:16:35	If you want to talk about
00:16:35	accountability, there is none.
00:16:38	Now, there is no accountability
00:16:38	under what we have currently
00:16:44	in our Constitution.
00:16:45	This operation,
00:16:47	there will not be a
00:16:47	conversation that takes place
00:16:50	between you know,
00:16:50	the commissioners
00:16:52	that is not
00:16:52	in front of a camera
00:16:54	that people can't live stream,
00:16:54	that people can't,
00:16:57	you know, attend.
00:16:58	Everything is going to be out
00:16:58	in the open
00:17:00	when they're drawing the maps.
00:17:02	The map makers will be doing
00:17:02	this in front of a camera
00:17:05	so you can turn it
00:17:05	on, you know, and
00:17:08	and if you have insomnia,
00:17:08	it will probably be a cure.
00:17:12	I'm telling you.
00:17:13	But I'm just saying that
00:17:13	this is absolute nonsense.
00:17:17	They know it's a lie.
00:17:19	For the accountability.
00:17:21	They know it's a lie when
00:17:21	they talk about a blank check.
00:17:24	There is a process
00:17:26	in the constitutional
00:17:26	or the Constitution amendment,
00:17:30	and it talks about
00:17:30	what the appropriation
00:17:34	will be by the legislature
00:17:34	to pay for this.
00:17:38	Okay.
00:17:38	And there is a cap on it.
00:17:41	All right.
00:17:42	And yes,
00:17:42	the commissioners will be paid
00:17:45	when they are working
00:17:45	per diem.
00:17:47	Okay.
00:17:48	Just
00:17:49	like any other commission
00:17:49	that is set up for any purpose
00:17:52	here in the state of Ohio,
00:17:52	commissioners get paid.
00:17:55	These commissioners
00:17:55	will get on the lower
00:17:57	rung of $125 a day.
00:18:00	All right.
00:18:01	Why did we put a pay?
00:18:04	Well, obviously,
00:18:05	we want people
00:18:05	that can afford to do this.
00:18:07	In other words,
00:18:08	they're going to have
00:18:08	a, a resource coming in.
00:18:12	All right.
00:18:12	I didn't want people who
00:18:15	literally can sit back
00:18:15	and say, yeah, I can do that
00:18:18	because I don't need
00:18:18	the money.
00:18:19	You know,
00:18:19	I don't need an income.
00:18:21	I'm, you know, of a certain
00:18:21	socioeconomic status
00:18:25	that I can do this now
00:18:25	because we want
00:18:28	a, demographics
00:18:28	that are representative
00:18:31	of the state of Ohio.
00:18:32	That's also in the
00:18:32	Constitution geographically.
00:18:35	And, for, demographics.
00:18:37	So, yeah, so basically,
00:18:37	the people that are
00:18:42	saying vote no are purposely,
00:18:42	misleading line
00:18:47	about these questions
00:18:47	that you've asked.
00:18:50	If people would just read
00:18:50	the amendment, they would see
00:18:53	what I'm talking about.
00:18:55	I, you know, sat down
00:18:55	and we drafted this
00:19:00	and it took almost a year
00:19:00	to come up with this.
00:19:03	And,
00:19:04	you know, people who were,
00:19:04	lawyers who were experts
00:19:09	in the field of, of,
00:19:09	representation,
00:19:12	etc., both from within
00:19:12	and outside of Ohio.
00:19:16	This was not a fly
00:19:16	by night organization.
00:19:18	And it wasn't, you know,
00:19:18	the Democratic Party
00:19:21	knocking on my door
00:19:21	and saying, hey, chief,
00:19:24	have I got a job for you
00:19:24	in your retirement?
00:19:26	Not at all. Not at all.
00:19:28	I spoke about doing this
00:19:30	as I was winding down
00:19:30	from the court.
00:19:33	In fact,
00:19:33	in the very first opinion
00:19:36	that was authored by justice
00:19:36	Melody Stewart,
00:19:39	I wrote a concurring opinion,
00:19:39	and I reminded
00:19:42	the citizens of Ohio, we have
00:19:42	this wonderful opportunity
00:19:46	in Ohio that only about
00:19:46	16 or 17 other states have
00:19:51	in effort to have citizens,
00:19:54	propose
00:19:56	an amendment
00:19:56	to our Constitution.
00:19:59	Yes, it has to be proposed.
00:20:00	Yes, it has to be voted on
00:20:00	by the citizens of the state.
00:20:04	Yes, they have to have
00:20:04	the majority of yes votes.
00:20:07	Now, that could have changed
00:20:07	by that goofy,
00:20:11	amendment
00:20:11	from August of last year,
00:20:13	where the politicians
00:20:13	tried to pull the rug out
00:20:16	from underneath our,
00:20:16	our citizens and bump that up
00:20:19	to 60% approval
00:20:19	rather than 50 plus one.
00:20:23	Nobody fell for that.
00:20:24	And you know, that's that's
00:20:24	a testament to our citizens.
00:20:27	Absolutely.
00:20:28	I do want to ask you
00:20:28	about the out-of-state
00:20:30	claim, citizens,
00:20:31	politicians raised $23 million
00:20:31	as a fundraising reports
00:20:34	in August.
00:20:35	Less than 16% of
00:20:35	that came from Ohio.
00:20:37	That's a lot of money
00:20:37	to be coming in
00:20:39	from out of state
00:20:39	for this effort.
00:20:41	Okay.
00:20:41	And I would like to remind
00:20:41	everybody that these are maps
00:20:45	that are being drawn
00:20:46	not only for Columbus
00:20:46	and the state of Ohio,
00:20:49	but also for Congress
00:20:49	in Washington, which affects
00:20:53	our country, democracy
00:20:53	that affects our country.
00:20:57	I like to say democracy
00:20:57	does not stop at the borders
00:20:59	of Ohio.
00:21:00	Strengthening our democracy,
00:21:00	strengthening
00:21:03	the voice of the citizens
00:21:03	does not stop.
00:21:05	The interest in doing
00:21:05	that does not stop
00:21:07	at the border of Ohio
00:21:07	with good cause.
00:21:09	What's good for Ohio,
00:21:11	what's good for
00:21:11	the people of Ohio
00:21:13	was good for our government
00:21:13	in Ohio
00:21:14	is good for this country.
00:21:17	If this passes,
00:21:17	how can voters ensure
00:21:20	that what they apparently
00:21:20	want,
00:21:22	which would be these fairer
00:21:22	districts,
00:21:24	are more representative?
00:21:25	How can they be assured
00:21:25	that this will happen?
00:21:28	Because a lot of voters
00:21:29	think they voted for that
00:21:29	in 2015, 2018.
00:21:32	And I would remind them,
00:21:33	this is a citizens
00:21:33	initiated thing.
00:21:35	This is not a group
00:21:35	that has an agenda
00:21:38	other than fair maps,
00:21:39	representative maps, maps
00:21:39	that reflect
00:21:42	the citizens of Ohio.
00:21:44	And they're voting,
00:21:44	you know,
00:21:48	previously in that amendment,
00:21:48	those amendments were drafted
00:21:52	by people who had an agenda.
00:21:53	And that agenda
00:21:53	was to put party over people,
00:21:56	to have a supermajority,
00:21:56	which they have.
00:22:00	And, just to,
00:22:03	you know, exercise
00:22:03	that authority with no regard.
00:22:06	To what the citizens want.
00:22:08	And there's
00:22:09	example after example
00:22:09	of the legislature thinking
00:22:13	we know best
00:22:14	and citizens, you know, you
00:22:14	you better listen to us
00:22:17	and we're going
00:22:17	to put
00:22:17	this constitutional amendment
00:22:18	on, and we're going to fight
00:22:18	against
00:22:20	this constitutional amendment.
00:22:21	And what happens,
00:22:23	you know,
00:22:23	let's go back to August,
00:22:24	when the citizens soundly
00:22:24	rejected,
00:22:27	you know, taking their,
00:22:27	their right to vote for,
00:22:31	a constitutional amendment
00:22:32	literally away by making it
00:22:32	60% rather than 50 plus one.
00:22:36	What was the reaction
00:22:36	of the politicians?
00:22:39	This isn't over.
00:22:40	We're
00:22:40	going to bring it back. Okay.
00:22:43	What?
00:22:43	You know, it's like
00:22:43	somebody scolding children.
00:22:46	You just wait.
00:22:46	We're going to do this again.
00:22:48	And by golly, that's
00:22:51	that's insulting
00:22:51	to the people of Ohio.
00:22:54	And, the people understand
00:22:54	that people in Ohio are smart.
00:23:00	How much of an effect
00:23:00	do you expect?
00:23:01	The ballot boards language,
00:23:01	the ballot summary
00:23:04	that voters will see
00:23:04	will affect their vote?
00:23:06	How much do you expect that?
00:23:07	You mean if legal,
00:23:07	unconstitutional language
00:23:11	that Frank Larose drafted
00:23:11	that purposely tries
00:23:15	to sway the voters to vote
00:23:15	no on this amendment?
00:23:19	You mean that language?
00:23:20	Yeah, I think it's bad.
00:23:22	I think it's the worst
00:23:22	ballot language
00:23:23	I have ever seen
00:23:23	in my career of 20 years
00:23:26	on the Supreme Court and four
00:23:26	years as lieutenant governor.
00:23:30	It's atrocious.
00:23:31	It's unconstitutional.
00:23:34	And quite frankly,
00:23:34	I find it reprehensible
00:23:38	that the secretary of state,
00:23:38	the person who is supposed to
00:23:42	oversee fair elections
00:23:42	in this state,
00:23:46	puts his thumb on the scale
00:23:46	this way.
00:23:48	And that's what he does,
00:23:49	because
00:23:49	they want you to vote no.
00:23:51	They want you to look at that
00:23:53	language, and they want you to
00:23:53	say, ooh, I don't want that.
00:23:56	I'm going to vote no.
00:23:58	Let me give you an example.
00:24:00	The amendment says
00:24:00	very clearly that
00:24:04	what the commission will do
00:24:04	will ban gerrymandering.
00:24:08	The intent of this amendment
00:24:08	is to ban gerrymandering.
00:24:12	Frank la Rose and company
00:24:12	has in the ballot language
00:24:16	that they hope
00:24:17	that citizens will see
00:24:17	when they walk into the booth,
00:24:19	or they're looking
00:24:19	at the ballot
00:24:20	at home,
00:24:21	that this is what's written,
00:24:21	that the commission
00:24:24	will be required
00:24:24	to gerrymander.
00:24:26	That's a lie.
00:24:27	That is a that
00:24:27	I just can't tell you how
00:24:30	false and dishonest
00:24:30	and despicable.
00:24:33	And actually,
00:24:35	it was signed off
00:24:35	on by the Supreme Court, which
00:24:39	people are shocked about.
00:24:40	Absolutely shocked about that.
00:24:42	So yes, it was
00:24:42	it's difficult.
00:24:45	We expected
00:24:45	bad ballot language.
00:24:47	Look what happened to the
00:24:47	reproductive Rights Amendment.
00:24:51	They tried to put their thumb
00:24:51	on the scale,
00:24:53	for that, to have citizens
00:24:53	vote against it.
00:24:56	Obviously, that didn't work.
00:24:57	And I think the same result
00:24:57	will happen this time.
00:25:01	Citizens are offended,
00:25:01	when they're taken for fools.
00:25:06	And that's what Frank LaRosa
00:25:06	and the opposition
00:25:09	is counting
00:25:09	on, that people are fools.
00:25:12	And again, we'll have the no
00:25:12	on issue one side next week.
00:25:15	And we'll recap
00:25:15	both sides in a later show.
00:25:19	And that is it for this week
00:25:19	for my colleagues
00:25:20	at the Statehouse News
00:25:20	Bureau of Ohio Public Media.
00:25:22	Thanks for watching.
00:25:24	Please check out our website
00:25:24	at State News Dot or
00:25:26	or find us online by searching
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00:25:29	You can also hear more from
00:25:29	the Bureau on our podcast.
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00:25:37	And please join us again next
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Note : Transcripts are compiled from uncorrected captions