To the editor:

Took the time to google the ballot language for Issue 1 on the Ohio Secretary of State website. There I found not only the specific language but also the text of the current law with the proposed changes laid out in context.

After seeing what I have on the opposing side of the issue and very little up to now in support, I would have concluded the Issue 1 was to be an infringement of our rights as citizens of Ohio. But after reading the actual language I believe that Issue 1 enhances our rights as well as our voice.

Currently to get a proposed amendment change on the ballot via initiative petition requires only 3% of the voters from only half the counties in the State. After which a simple majority is required to approve said change.

As proposed, the law would require 5% of the voters in every county to sign an initiative petition. Once placed on the ballot, 60% of the electorate would need to vote in the affirmative to approve.

Checking out the U.S. Constitution, I found that a super majority is required to amend it. That is a 2/3rds majority or 63 percent.

The proposed changes are required to prevent radical ideas and agendas from the more populace counties from being foisted on the rest of us without our full participation and approval.

When the current law was put in place, over a hundred years ago, as I understand, I can’t imagine that the voters could have anticipated the radical ideologies that would be encountered in the future. Nor could they have anticipated the tactics that would be deployed and the amount of money that would be injected by special interests from outside the State of Ohio to change our laws to fit their agendas.

It should be hard to make changes in the Ohio Constitution. If any issue is important enough to amend our Ohio Constitution, it ought to have the proposed 60 percent of voters behind it.

I will vote “YES” on Issue 1 and would encourage others to do the same.

LOU DONNELLY,

Salem