(The Center Square) – An Arizona Democratic lawmaker says a Republican-backed effort in Ohio to make ballot initiatives a steeper hill to climb could make an appearance in the Copper State.
Voters in Ohio rejected Issue 1 Tuesday by a wide margin. If enacted, it would have required a 60% majority to pass a constitutional amendment. The measure failed, with a coincidental 61% of voters in opposition.
Arizona Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, congratulated voters in Ohio on their decision while also noting Republicans in her state want something similar.
“Each year the Arizona state Legislature has increasingly been attempting to dilute the people’s constitutional power of initiative by creating up-front administrative burdens in statute and challenging signatures in the more conservative Arizona Supreme Court,” she said. “In their newest moves against voters, the Legislature is attempting to further nudge voters into approving restrictive initiative measures based off confusing language and misleading ‘Vote FOR’ campaigns.”
She named Senate Concurrent Resolution 1002, sponsored by Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, who said the measure that would require 60% of a statewide vote to pass a constitutional amendment would put the state more in line with other state thresholds.
“We’re pretty lax,” Kern said on Feb. 21. “It should be hard to amend our state Constitution.”
He described a few other state requirements.
“Alabama, in order to amend their constitution, they require a 60% vote, three-fifths of the state Legislature, must vote on any amendment and then it goes to a statewide ballot,” he said. “Alaska requires a two-thirds majority before anything can be put on the ballot that would amend their constitution. California, in order to amend their constitution, they have to have two-thirds of each chamber in the California state legislature has to agree to propose the amendment … and then it gets put on the ballot and then there’s several other requirements.”
According to Ballotpedia, Arizona is one of only 18 states that allow for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments. Ten of those 18 states need a simple majority in one election for a successful amendment. The others either require a higher percentage, multiple election successes or have no mechanism for citizens to change their state’s constitution.
Underlying the initiatives in both Ohio and Arizona are future citizen-led measures regarding abortion rights.
Ohioans will decide this November on an initiative that, if successful, would say every individual has a right to make and carry out their own reproductive decisions, including by not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility, treatment, continuing one’s pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.
In Arizona, a new coalition announced they were gathering signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the November 2024 election ballot that would enshrine broad abortion rights into the state’s guiding charter.
