New lawsuit challenges Ohio special election ballot language

Editor’s note: The attached video aired on May 12, 2023.

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - There’s a new legal challenge to Ohio’s August special election and this time, it’s targeting the language Ohioans will see on their ballots.

Voters will decide if it should be harder to change the state’s constitution by increasing the threshold for issues to pass at the ballot box from 50% to 60%.

Opponents say the language approved for the ballot is misleading because it doesn’t specify that the 60% threshold would be a change. They are asking the Ohio Supreme Court to have the language rewritten.

“As a consequence, a voter might take the ballot language to mean that the people of Ohio do not presently get to vote on proposed amendments at all, and might even understand the Amendment itself to create that right in the first instance,” the lawsuit states.

There is also a separate lawsuit that challenges whether the special election itself is constitutional.

You can read the entire lawsuit below:

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