Allen and Mercer Counties (WLIO) - If State Issue 1 is approved, it would remove the Ohio Supreme Court’s authority on determining bail amounts and conditions. Plus, it would give lower courts the ability to consider public safety when setting bail amounts. This comes after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that public safety should not be a factor when considering bail amounts.
Opponents to this issue say that poor defendants are disproportionately impacted by cash bail amounts even though they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Here is what Governor Mike DeWine and Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Nan Whaley have to say about issue 1.
“Certainly, we want judges to be able to consider if someone is dangerous when they are deciding if they want to be on the street or not,” says Whaley. “More than anything we need to make sure our communities are safe.”
“The Supreme Court case about a year ago a 4 to 3 vote said no. You could no longer take into consideration the safety of the community. Kind of basic, up or down vote,” says DeWine. “I think I certainly would urge people for the safety of their communities to vote yes, give those judges that discretion.”
If State Issue 2 would pass it would require that only U.S. citizens would be legally allowed to vote in local elections. Currently, the Ohio Constitution allows every U.S. citizen to vote if they are at least 18 years old, a resident of the state, county, township, or ward, and have been registered to vote 30 days before the election.
This issue comes after the village of Yellow Springs outside of Dayton passed a referendum to allow non-U.S. citizens to vote on local issues and races in their village and their officials say that falls under their rights to home rule and local control.
Opponents of Issue 2 say this would violate 17-year-olds from voting in primary elections, which they have the right to do now if their 18th birthday is before the general election. And some opponents believe that non-U.S. citizens have the right to have a voice in their communities. Here is what Whaley and DeWine say about issue 2.
“We have had some talks and some people have said that if you are not a U.S. Citizen and you are here you should be able to vote. I don’t think so,” adds DeWine. “State Issue 2 says, to make it very very clear in Ohio if you are not a citizen you cannot vote.”
“Of course, U.S. Citizens should be the people that vote. That makes sense,” adds Whaley. “I just think it is a solution looking for a problem more than anything else.”
After early voting closes at 2 pm on Monday, November 7th, the next chance to vote is when the polling locations at open at 6:30 am on Tuesday, November 8th and close at 7:30 pm that night.
