Ohio Election Reform

With Issues 2 through 5 on the November ballot, an unprecedented opportunity is being presented to Ohio voters. With these amendments, Ohioans can choose to dispens with politices as usual, and begin to return power to the hands of Ohio voters rather than the lobbyists who have had free reign in the state capital for the last 15 years.

These issues simplify absentee voting, reduce special interest money, more fairly apportion electoral and Congressional districts, and create a bi-partisan State Board of elections. All common sense issues, and all bitterly opposed by Ohio's Republican leadership.

Their stance is that passage of these issues would lead to vote fraud and DIsenfrancise countless Ohioans. Can anyone forget the long lines, lack of voting machines, and problems with what voting machines were available, in 2004? All occured under the current system which favors the majority party. And for the last fifteen years that has been the Republican party. With electoral districts gerrymandered beyond any reasonable bounds to favor the majority party, with the corruption which has reached even into Governor Taft's office, the Republican leadership in Ohio want to maintain the staus quo. And the status quo ill serves the average Ohioan. It serves, very well, the lobbyists who buy votes with impunity under the current system.

And while Richard Finan, former Ohio Senate President turned lobbyist leads the fight against these proposals, it should be noted that "Ohio First" Inc. which Finan fronts for, was first incorporated in the state of Delaware to oppose Ohio ballot measures. Odd...don't you think?

Passage of these ballot measures will be a small, but significant, first step in returning power to "We the People...". And that is why those currently holding the reigns of power fear these measures.