Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, executive director of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, said the effort is part of ato weaken citizens' access to direct democracy and will have national implications.
“This goes well beyond the abortion-reproductive rights issue that’s going to hit in November. This affects every other issue that would touch the Ohio Constitution. The law's been in place since 1912,” he said. A group of Republican lawmakers refused to reverse course on the issue, as LaRose since has, preventing passage of a bill that would have reinstated an August election one time and provide $20 million to run it.
Aaron Sellers, spokesperson for the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, said the county will use only 282 voting locations, rather than its usual 307, displacing about 7% of voters.