State Issue 5 proposes creating an appointed board charged with administering state elections. The proposed State Board of Elections Supervisors would be comprised of four appointments by the governor, four appointments by members of the General Assembly (from the political party that is not the same as that of the governor) and one by a unanimous vote of the Supreme Court. The governor and members of the general assembly must appoint equal numbers of men and women and take into consideration the geographic regions and racial diversity of the state.

Members would serve staggered nine-year terms and may not hold any elective or other appointive public office, be a candidate for public office, hold a position with a political party, or be a registered lobbyist. Members would also be prohibited from making or soliciting political contributions and being involved in a candidate or ballot issue campaign.  

(Ohio law requires the Secretary of State to gather arguments for each state issue from proponents and arguments against from opponents. Excerpts from these arguments on Issue 5 follow.)

AGAINST

Vote No on Issue 5 for the following reasons.

• First, the proposed amendment would effectively end the local control over Ohio elections that is currently exercised by our bipartisan county elections boards.
• Second, the proposed amendment would create a new statewide elections board that would consist of members who are politically appointed for 9-year terms, and would never be accountable to Ohio voters.
• Third, the proposed amendment would eliminate the role of Ohio’s Secretary of State in Ohio’s election system. The new statewide board of political appointees would replace our elected Secretary of State. The proponents of this amendment clearly distrust the ability of Ohio voters to choose a public official to be in charge of Ohio’s election system.
• Fourth, the proposed amendment would essentially give the appointed elections board a “blank check” to spend any and all tax dollars that it desires even if taxes would need to be raised to pay for it. The proposed amendment does not explain why it is necessary to give this group of political appointees the power to spend unlimited amounts of tax dollars, without being accountable to Ohio voters or elected Ohio public officials.

Vote YES to create a bi-partisan and independent state board of elections supervisors to administer elections similar to the county boards of elections.

In recent elections, public confidence in the fairness of the election process has been undermined by actions of the Secretary of State. Citizens need to have trust and confidence restored in their electoral system.

Issue 5 will restore public confidence by replacing the Secretary of State as the state’s chief elections officer with a bi-partisan board of elections supervisors similar to the local county boards of elections. If a bi-partisan system is good enough for all 88 counties, it should be good enough for Ohio as a whole.

Issue 5 will lessen partisanship in the administration of elections in Ohio at the state level.

Issue 5 will prevent those who are involved in administering elections at the state level from mixing personal political agendas with their public duties.

Issue 5 will create a bi-partisan board with 9 appointed members—4 appointed by the Governor, 4 appointed by Members of the General Assembly of the opposite party and one member appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Issue 5 will not create another layer of bureaucracy in State government. Money now used for this service could be transferred to the state board of elections.

Issue 5 will not replace the bi-partisan county boards of elections that currently administer and will continue to administer elections at the local level.

Return to list of state issues