(The Center Square) – The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously told Attorney General Dave Yost to again review a proposed constitutional amendment on a voter’s bill of rights within 10 days.
The court ruled Yost wrongly considered the citizen-led amendment’s title when he rejected it in late January. Yost is a Republican, as is the majority of the bench.
The court said Yost can only review the summary of the petition, not the title and certify it as either fair and truthful statement before it can move on to the next step in the process.
The submitted title of the proposed amendment was “Secure and Fair Elections.”
Yost argued he could turn away the proposal based on the title.
When Yost rejected the proposed amendment for a second time in late January, he called the title, “Ohio Voters Bill of Rights,” highly misleading and misrepresentative.
In his letter to supporters, Yost said ballot language should be neutral.
During that review, Yost said he did not review the entire summary, according to the court, only the title. Because of that, the court ordered the review rather than sending the petition to the Ohio Ballot Board.
If eventually approved by Yost, the proposal would go to the Ohio Ballot Board to determine if it addresses only one issue. If approved, more signatures must be gathered before it could eventually make it to the ballot.
The proposed amendment would expand voting rights and registration, establishing the right to vote as a fundamental right in the Ohio Constitution. It would also bar the state from interfering with a legal Ohio voter to vote.
Also, it calls for automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration and an end to automatic roll purges after four years of no voting.
It would also allow voters to sign a declaration instead of presenting an ID to vote and create no-excuse absentee voting.
As previously reported by The Center Square, Yost turned away the same plan earlier in January, calling it misleading.
At that time, Secretary of State Frank LaRose called the proposal extreme and radical. He’s a Republican running for the U.S. Senate.