After using the ballot amendment process to enshrine baby-killing into Ohio’s constitution, Democrat activists are seeking to employ the same strategy to hijack the state’s elections system.
Last week, Democrat-affiliated groups resubmitted paperwork to Attorney General Dave Yost in the first step necessary to have their amendment proposal embedding leftist-backed voting policies into the state constitution appear on Ohio’s November 2024 ballot. Backed by left-wing organizations such as the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and the Ohio NAACP, the campaign has recruited Cory Warfield, a Democrat strategist “who previously worked on Sen. Sherrod Brown’s 2012 campaign,” to help lead the effort.
Warfield more recently assisted Democrat groups in using the ballot amendment process to enshrine abortion into Ohio’s founding document last year.
According to Cleveland.com, Democrats’ new, deceptively-named “Ohio Voters Bill of Rights” initiative aims to not only repeal the state’s recently enacted voter ID requirements but also jam numerous insecure voting practices into the Ohio Constitution. This “wish list” of Democrat priorities include same-day voter registration, automatic voter registration, and an option for counties to expand “early-voting hours and offer multiple locations for early in-person voting and for ballot drop boxes.”
Rather than require Ohioans to present a valid form of identification in order to vote, the proposal would permit voters to “instead sign an affidavit swearing to their identity.” But just this month, a Clinton-appointed federal judge upheld Ohio’s voter ID law as constitutional, ruling that Democrat-backed plaintiffs presented no evidence such requirements place an undue “burden” on Ohioans and their ability to vote.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost denied Democrat groups’ initial paperwork filing for the initiative on Dec. 28 after determining the “language that would appear on petitions for voters’ signatures didn’t accurately reflect what the amendment would do if it were approved.” (The proposal’s first title was the “Secure and Fair Elections” amendment.)
If approved by Yost — who has until Thursday to decide whether the initiative moves forward — Democrats’ election overhaul amendment would go to the Ohio Ballot Board, which would decide whether to “keep the measure as a single ballot issue or split it into multiple parts.” Following approval from the board, petitioners would need to collect approximately 413,000 valid voter signatures by July 3 in order for the proposal(s) to appear on the state’s November ballot.
A New Strategy Takes Root
Democrats’ use of the ballot amendment process to alter Ohio’s elections systems is part of a nationwide strategy to bypass elected officials in red states and cement Democrats’ radical agenda into law.
Democrats kicked this nefarious gameplan into gear in Michigan during the 2022 midterms. Prior to that election, Republicans controlled both chambers of the Michigan Legislature, meaning the most radical elements of Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s agenda were dead on arrival. Unable to pass their extreme policies into law, Democrats got an idea: If Republican lawmakers won’t approve Democrat priorities, then maybe enough voters can be deceived into supporting them.
In the months leading up to the 2022 elections, Democrat-backed groups used the ballot amendment process to place two deceptively-worded initiatives enshrining baby-killing, elective genital surgeries for minors, and leftists’ insecure election practices into the Michigan Constitution on the 2022 ballot. Like clockwork, outside left-wing groups such as Planned Parenthood began dumping millions of dollars into the state to deceive voters into approving both initiatives.
In the end, their strategy paid off.
Republicans didn’t realize it at the time, but Democrats’ success in Michigan crafted the blueprint for how the left would advance its agenda moving forward. By using confusing language and deceptive marketing funded by outside groups, Democrats would use the ballot amendment process to implement their radical policies in states where their party doesn’t possess trifecta control. In essence, it’s a strategy designed to circumvent democratically-elected Republican-controlled legislatures and governors.
Conservative activists in Ohio recognized Democrats’ plan and pushed forward a ballot initiative on the state’s August 2023 ballot requiring future constitutional amendment proposals to be ratified by 60 percent of Ohio voters instead of a simple majority — but it was too late. The measure failed, paving the way for Democrat activists to place a pro-abortion proposal on the November ballot.
Much like with Michigan’s 2022 proposals, Democrats’ use of dishonest messaging funded by out-of-state leftist groups worked, and the amendment was adopted by voters.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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