(COLUMBUS, OH, 4/27/23) – On Wednesday, April 19, CAIR-Ohio Executive Director Amina Barhumi and Government Affairs Director Anisa Liban attended the Ohio Statehouse Resolutions Committee Hearing to provide opponent testimony for House Joint Resolution 1 (HJR1).
CAIR-Ohio staff, along with dozens of organizations and Ohioans, were outraged when they were informed that they could no longer provide testimonies against the measure as a result of the committee halting the hearing and calling a surprise vote after hearing from only 6 constituents.
TAKE ACTION: Protect the Power of the People in Ohio with Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives
HJR 1 would upend the constitutional amendment process and institute minority rule in Ohio, shred our Constitution, and take away our right to decide what happens in our communities. If passed, the bill will:
· Increase the current voting threshold from 50%+1 to 60%.
· If citizens spend months collecting signatures to put an amendment on Ohio’s ballot, their initiative will need 60% of votes to become law.
· Remove the “cure period,” which is a window of time voters are allowed to fix any signature mistakes. This period permits voters to go back out and collect more signatures to try to make up for a shortfall.
· Require an initiative petition proposing an amendment to the Constitution to have petitions bearing the signatures of at least 5% of the electors of each county in the state, instead of half of the counties.
CAIR-Ohio voices strong opposition to HJR1, and its companion resolution SJR2, which if passed would make it harder to pass citizen-led ballot initiatives.
“Our democracy cannot be fully called one, when the basic tenets and bedrock of democracy, of allowing citizens to have a say in their government, are made more difficult”, said Barhumi.
“This impacts not only voting rights, but healthcare access, access to education, civil and economic justice, and much more. All of which are issues we combat regularly as an organization. Resolutions like this obstruct the voting rights of every Ohioan. HJR1 would also negate our continuous efforts as an organization to empower Muslims and underrepresented communities.”
Additionally, at the committee hearing, Representative Brian Stewart made a statement on his own accord, what he termed “legal slavery”. CAIR-Ohio demands that he apologizes for these remarks and his conduct.
“The lunatics in Portland took slavery out of the state constitution. And they did so because they wanted to make sure that you could no longer require people to go to court-ordered counseling, court-ordered drug treatment, court-ordered community service, and arguably, how do you even lock somebody up if you’re a child murderer in Oregon.” Stewart said. “’And do the child murderers in Oregon now get to say, “Well, sorry warden, I don’t want to wake up and make license plates today because that’s slavery.’”
CAIR-Ohio will join the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition for a Day of Action at the Ohio Statehouse on Wednesday, May 3 to voice opposition to HJR1. We will be ready to mobilize & fight HJR1 by educating community members about the harmful resolution should it be up for vote in a special August election.
If you are interested in joining, register here.
