On May 12, some Ohio voters filed a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court to stop the state from holding a vote on August 8, 2023, on a proposed constitutional amendment that would raise the support from a majority, to 60% of the vote. State ex rel One Person One Vote v LaRose, 2023-0630.

The lawsuit points out that the Ohio election code does not permit statewide ballot measures to be held in August elections. Although the Ohio legislature recently passed a resolution for the new constitutional language, it did not pass the companion bill to allow statewide ballot measures on an August ballot. Resolutions cannot change the statutes and need not be signed by the Governor. Here is the Complaint.

The legislative majority clearly wanted to hold the vote on whether to raise the vote to 60% in August, because it wants to stop an initiative that is being circulated now (concerning abortion) and which will probably qualify to be on the November 2023 ballot.

In Maine, parties that wish to qualify for party status need to persuade 5,000 voters to register as members of the party. Earlier this year, No Labels appeared to have finished its Maine registration drive, because its workers had submitted approximately 7,000 registration cards to election officials. However, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows believes that some voters did not realize they had registered into No Labels, and plans to write a letter to each party registration, asking them if they really intended to join the party. See this story.