opinion

Editorial: Issue 2 risks citizen access to ballot

A constitutional amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot should be voted down because it's a victim of a higher authority: the law of unintended consequences.

Issue 2 was designed to block amendments to the state constitution that would enshrine monopolies, cartels and oligopolies or set preferential tax rates. Lawmakers meant well when they rushed to put Issue 2 on the Nov. 3 ballot. There's a case to be made that Ohio's ballot initiative process could use some additional protections to ward off non-citizen initiatives that would benefit only a few. But the wording of the ballot measure – language that would become part of the state constitution – is inexact and could create new problems down the road.

Ohioans should take the prudent approach to altering the state constitution and vote no on Issue 2.

A key part of Issue 2 is a run-on sentence, and it is unclear if the last portion of the sentence – "that is not then available to other similarly situated person or nonpublic entities " – applies to the entire sentence or just the previous part of the sentence. This tangle could chill citizen involvement in Ohio's ballot initiative process and unintentionally apply Issue 2 to constitutional amendments regarding tax rates.

Issue 2's first target is another ballot misfire – the marijuana legalization proposal just below it on the ballot, designated Issue 3. We previously opined that Issue 3 is the wrong way for Ohio to legalize marijuana, and voters should simply vote down both of them. Ohioans don't need Issue 2 to save ourselves from Issue 3.

Issue 2 bears close scrutiny because it gives tremendous power to the state Ballot Board, which writes the official ballot language for items facing a vote. The board would have the power to make a ballot measure survive a two-question hurdle on the ballot, if the board believes the proposal in question is a monopoly or the like. The first question would, for example, slap the monopoly label on the ballot measure and ask voters to approve the designation before deciding on the proposed issue. The double-barrelled warning to voters would likely prove fatal for the measure.

Ohio citizens deserve access to direct democracy, and any restriction on the initiative process should be very carefully tailored. Issue 2 doesn't meet the test.

Issue 2 ballot language

Anti-monopoly amendment; protects the initiative process from being used for personal economic benefit

The proposed amendment would:

Prohibit any petitioner from using the Ohio Constitution to grant a monopoly, oligopoly, or cartel for their exclusive financial benefit or to establish a preferential tax status.

Prohibit any petitioner from using the Ohio Constitution to grant a commercial interest, right, or license that is not available to similarly situated persons or nonpublic entities.

Require the bipartisan Ohio Ballot Board to determine if a proposed constitutional amendment violates the prohibitions above, and if it does, present two separate ballot questions to voters. Both ballot questions must receive a majority yes vote before the proposed amendment could take effect.

Prohibit from taking effect any proposed constitutional amendment appearing on the November 3, 2015 General Election ballot that creates a monopoly, oligopoly, or cartel for the sale, distribution, or other use of any federal Schedule I controlled substance.

The Ohio Supreme Court has original, exclusive jurisdiction in any action related to the proposal.

If passed, the amendment will become effective immediately