TSawyer2112
11-08-2005, 10:56 PM
Voters soundly reject election changes in OhioCOLUMBUS, Ohio -- Voters soundly rejected four issues Tuesday that would have overhauled the way Ohio runs its elections, ending a high-pitched campaign that had hoped to capitalize on a Republican investment scandal and complaints about last year's presidential election.
The issues would have opened absentee balloting to all voters, lowered the cap on individual campaign contributions and put boards, instead of elected officials, in charge of drawing legislative and congressional districts and overseeing the state's elections.Reform Ohio Now, a coalition of unions and other Democrat-leaning groups, wanted to wrest control of elections from state officeholders, now a virtual Republican monopoly. Republicans resisted, forming an opposition group known as Ohio First.The opposition did its job, said former state Rep. Ed Jerse, a Euclid Democrat who directed the backers' campaign."If I learned anything in the Legislature, it's a lot easier to kill something than to pass something," Jerse said. "The other side is attacking you at every step."State Rep. Kevin DeWine, a suburban Dayton Republican who helped to drive the opposition, said voters were turned off by the complexity of the ballot issues, but that wasn't the whole story."When an issue gets trounced 70-30 it's not a matter of voter confusion, it's just a bad idea," DeWine said. "I think that voters saw that this was funded by people who are not Ohioans and I think voters were able to see through that."...Read More (http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=4092514&nav=Lrzs)
Finally some good news out of Ohio:thumb:
The issues would have opened absentee balloting to all voters, lowered the cap on individual campaign contributions and put boards, instead of elected officials, in charge of drawing legislative and congressional districts and overseeing the state's elections.Reform Ohio Now, a coalition of unions and other Democrat-leaning groups, wanted to wrest control of elections from state officeholders, now a virtual Republican monopoly. Republicans resisted, forming an opposition group known as Ohio First.The opposition did its job, said former state Rep. Ed Jerse, a Euclid Democrat who directed the backers' campaign."If I learned anything in the Legislature, it's a lot easier to kill something than to pass something," Jerse said. "The other side is attacking you at every step."State Rep. Kevin DeWine, a suburban Dayton Republican who helped to drive the opposition, said voters were turned off by the complexity of the ballot issues, but that wasn't the whole story."When an issue gets trounced 70-30 it's not a matter of voter confusion, it's just a bad idea," DeWine said. "I think that voters saw that this was funded by people who are not Ohioans and I think voters were able to see through that."...Read More (http://www.onnnews.com/Global/story.asp?S=4092514&nav=Lrzs)
Finally some good news out of Ohio:thumb: