The Ohio Republican Party and state’s chief elections officer have done everything in their power to push a false narrative to voters about Issue 1, the Citizens Not Politicians ballot issue.
An October poll from Bowling Green State University suggests that likely Ohio voters aren’t buying what they are selling.
And that goes for Republican voters, too.
The BGSU/YouGov poll, conducted on the web among 1,000 likely Ohio Voters from Oct. 12-21, shows 56% in favor of Issue 1, with 32% opposed and 12% not sure.
But the eye-popping part was when the poll asked that question of Republican voters — 27%, nearly one in every three, said they support Issue 1.
Democrats are solidly in favor of the Citizens Not Politicians ballot issue. A plurality of independents — 49% — favor the ballot issue, with 29% opposed and 22% undecided.
But they had to be doing a spit-take at Ohio GOP headquarters when they saw this poll.
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If they can’t convince one-third of their base that the Citizens Not Politicians initiative is a bad idea, how are they going to sell that to independent and undecided voters?
“The partisan split on Issue 1 is striking,’’ BGSU professor Melissa Miller, a director of the poll, said in a footnote to the polling numbers. “Proponents of the measure no doubt hope that Democrats will turn out in high numbers and a majority of independents will break in favor."
That’s the Democrats’ fondest hope and the Ohio GOP’s worst nightmare.
Why does the Ohio GOP hate this ballot issue so much?
That’s simple: Because it would break their vise-grip on the process of drawing state legislative and congressional district maps.
It would replace a system where Ohio’s redistricting is in the total control of Republican politicians and replace it with a citizen-based system.
Issue 1 would create a 15-member citizens commission made up of five Democrats, five Republicans and five independents — all chosen by a bipartisan panel of retired judges.
The only requirement for being on that commission is that you not be a current or former elected official, a political party official, or a lobbyist.
This would break the heart of the Ohio Republican Party. It’s the key to their one-party control of the state.
Imagine if they had to compete on a more level playing field for state legislative and congressional seats...
Would the Republicans lose control of the Ohio House and Senate?
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No, not likely. But what they could lose is their veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers — the one thing that gives them power to do whatever they want, whenever they want to do it.
What passage of Issue 1 would likely mean is that statehouse Republicans might have to reach across the aisle for some Democratic votes to advance their agenda.
But “compromise” seems to be a dirty word among Republican politicians at all levels these days.
So, it is not surprising the Ohio Republican Party is pushing a narrative that tries to convince Ohioans that they should leave this power in the hands of Republican elected officials.
“Issue 1 is a power grab,” said Ohio GOP chairman Alex Triantafilou in one social media post. “Issue 1 takes gerrymandering and makes it the law in Ohio.
“This issue is being fueled by out-of-state special interests to permanently enshrine gerrymandering in our constitution,” Triantafilou said. “A misleading effort to confuse voters.”
While we are on the subject of “misleading effort,” we must note the switcheroo Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who talks a good game on “election integrity,” pulled off with a 3-2 majority on the Ohio Ballot Board when it came time to approve ballot language for Issue 1.
Proponents of Issue 1 went to the Ohio Supreme Court asking the justices to strike down LaRose’s ballot language re-write.
But the four-member Republican majority on the court refused to do so, except for ordering a few minor tweaks.
So, with the help of his friends on the Ohio Supreme Court, LaRose managed to change the straightforward ballot language that Citizens Not Politicians submitted, and Republican Attorney General Dave Yost signed off on.
RELATED: Ohio Supreme Court lets most of Ballot Board re-wording on Issue 1 stand
The new language, which Ohioans are voting on now and on Nov. 5, makes it appear that Issue 1 would require partisan gerrymandering when the whole point of Issue 1 is to eliminate partisan gerrymandering.
Citizens Not Politicians and the two Democrats on the ballot board said it was a deliberate act to confuse voters.
And apparently, LaRose and his GOP cohorts on the ballot board are hoping that voters, weary after blacking in myriad boxes of candidate races and local issues, will be exhausted when they reach the end of their ballots and see this massive block of type on Issue 1.
Don’t count on it, says Citizens Not Politicians.
“Our own research shows that we have the support of high-information voters,” said Chris Davey, spokesman for the Citizens Not Politicians campaign.
Supporters of the ballot issue are encouraged by the BGSU/YouGov poll, but they are taking nothing for granted.
“It will be close because of the lies and the horrible ballot language,” Davey said.
Citizens Not Politicians has had a huge financial advantage from the start, spending at least $25 million on TV advertising — including an ad featuring a Republican, retired Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, who sided with the Democrats on the court in rejecting GOP maps seven times.
Now, O’Connor is one of the authors of Issue 1 and its most visible supporter.
“She is a life-long Republican who believes partisan gerrymandering is wrong,” Davey said. “A very effective voice of our side, and one who is well-known to our high-information voters.”
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Davey said Citizens Not Politicians has another $6-7 million to spend on TV ads over the last week of the campaign. The anti-Issue 1 campaign has been able to spend only $4.5 million on ads urging a “no” vote.
The Republicans can’t compete in the money game. Their only hope is to convince their base and independent voters to vote no on Issue 1.
And they don’t seem to be doing a very good job of it.
