Democratic state lawmakers think the Ohio Ballot Board has become too partisan to produce accurate summaries of ballot measures for voters to read. It's been sued over the language it approved for the last three elections, including the one in November. Now some Ohio House Democrats are introducing a bill to change that.
Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio (D-Gahanna) said when voters go to the polls, they should be able to see language on their ballots that accurately summarizes the issue they are voting on.
“The goal of the Ballot Board is the language that appears on our ballot actually matches the intent of the people who put the issue in front of us," Brown Piccolantio said.
But Brown Piccolantio said the board has fallen short of that goal in the last three elections. So she and other Democrats have a new bill they think will fix the partisanship problem.
“We tried to come up with a plan that would take some of the partisanship that has crept into the process, to try to keep, try to take it back out again," Brown Piccolantonio said.
Brown Piccolantonio said the bill she's sponsoring would:
- Ban politicians and lobbyists from serving on the Ballot Board
- Put more bipartisanship in the appointment process
- Establish bipartisan co-chairs
- Require the entire board to adopt titles for ballot issues
Brown Piccolantonio said it’s doubtful the bill will move since lawmakers won’t be back until after the November election, but shes' hoping it starts a conversation.
"I don't think that my Republican colleagues want to keep going through this process either where there is a challenge in court. Quite frankly, that delays the process," Brown Piccolantonio said. "So if we can have a cleaner and more bipartisan process on the front end, that would avoid hopefully what has played out over the last couple of years."
Democrats said if it doesn't pass this session, they'll bring it up again next year.
