Will SCOTUS Rule on Manipulative Ballot Initiatives?
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Will SCOTUS Rule on Manipulative Ballot Initiatives?
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In the past few years, ballot initiatives have brought chaos around the nation. Thanks to manipulative, carefully crafted language, activists have been able to force conservative states to enshrine things like abortion in their constitutions. Now, however, the Supreme Court has a chance to stop this.
From The Federalist. The careful wording of ballot questions can make a world of difference in how voters respond to an issue.
Have you taken your place on the wall?
Imagine an election at a cafeteria where the cooks disagree about how to word a ballot question. One suggests, “Should we cut the cost of lunch in half?” The other recommends, “Should we serve exclusively Ramen noodles every day to save cost and pass the savings on to you?”
Both questions mean the same thing; one is more honest. It is not hard to predict the vote outcome when you manipulate the words. …
In Ohio, the process of choosing the words for a ballot question is under debate. State Attorney General Dave Yost has recently asked the U.S. Supreme Court to settle a dispute between his office and activist group the Ohio Coalition to End Qualified Immunity. The group has been trying to amend the Ohio Constitution since 2023 to get a question on the state ballot that would make it easier to personally sue individual police officers and other public employees. …
The Process
In an Ohio ballot initiative, citizens must form a committee, collect signatures of 1,000 registered voters in support of the proposal, and then submit their proposed constitutional amendment and a summary of the proposal to the Ohio attorney general. …
The law says the Ohio attorney general has 10 days to decide if the summary “is a fair and truthful statement of the proposed amendment.” If the attorney general and the ballot board clear the summary, the petitioner circulates the petition with the approved wording …
The coalition has submitted its proposed amendment to Yost in various forms, seven times, according to court papers.
“Each time, the Attorney General was unable to certify the plaintiffs’ summary,” Yost said in the filing. “One submission did not include enough signatures. For the other submissions, including the plaintiffs’ most recent submission, the Attorney General concluded that the plaintiffs’ summaries were not fair representations of their proposed amendment.”
Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed, in a split decision, with a lower court. It required Yost to accept the coalition’s wording and allow them to move forward in the process. …
Justice Brett Kavanaugh put a stay on the case last week, pausing the order to print the petition. …
What do you think of ballot initiatives? Share your prayers for Ohio and the Supreme Court below.
(Excerpt from The Federalist. Photo Credit: 4kodiak/Getty Images Signature via Canva Teams)
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Father, we ask that our elections remain free and fair throughout our country. We ask for Your intervention. Close doors that no man can open, and open doors that no man can close. In Jesus most precious name we pray.
This is a HUGE reminder we MUST keep praying for open, honest elections in the soon-to-be 2026 elections AND to pray that God’s candidates will run & BE ELECTED! It will be a crucial election, with the majority in both bodies of Congress at stake. Lord, YOU are the divine judge – show our Supreme Court how YOU want them to render decisions; & we declare the 2026 elections will be a LANDSLIDE for righteousness – NO MORE RADICAL LEFT CANDIDATES! We decree GOD rules & reigns over the Supreme Court AND 2026 elections!
Jesus called the Pharisees double-minded, among other things. Today, some groups engage in such manipulation. They attempt to influence their agenda and rob us of fair laws and due process. They are, like I stated, influencing and double-minded.
I deal with manipulative and vague communication from people I interact with regularly. It must be a communicative, contagious disease!! It should not be true of ballot initiatives to change state constitutions. They should be clear and not meant to deceive the voters as to their intent and desired outcomes. State attorney generals should be able to discern that and be responsible for blocking/allowing.
YHVH, please intervene in this case for Ohio’s sake, and grant AG Yost’s petition to SCOTUS.
Laws and the [state] constitution have a tremendous effect on its people. I get that there will be people who definitely want abortion, but they should NOT be allowed to highjack his/her state’s laws or constitution, where a majority wants life!
Father, thank you for Attorney General Yost and his insight. I pray the Supreme Court would protect us from these kind of petitions for amendments to our Constitution. Give them wisdom as to their decision and keep this amendment from our Constitution.
DEAR LORD GOD
PLEASE GUIDE THE SCOTUS IN REACHING A DECITION THAT REFLECTS YOUR STATUTESAND MORAL OBLIGATIONS.
I ASK IN JESUS’ NAME
AMEN
I think this is an issue that needs to be discussed not just in ballot issues. Advertisements, Newspaper Headlines (all headlines), legislation, laws, anything coming out of a lawyers office. Language needs to be simple and straight forward. It needs to be written so those with the poorest language skills can understand.
I am good with language, had excellent grades in that area of study, but there are times that some of these things must be read more than once to understand what is meant. There is pressure when you are standing in the voting booth and know there are lines of people waiting. I think of Dyslexic individuals, who are more intelligent than most of the population but have a real disability in reading, we need to keep it simple, fully explained but simple. That is just one example. There are many..
Open the eyes of the “blind.” Turn the necks of the hard-hearted. Reform those who are calling for changes that harm our constitutional republic. Provide strength and courage and clarity of thought and word to those who are working to oppose this constitutional change. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.