On Issue 1 and The Ohio Republican Party

AEIA Issue 1

[00:00:00] My son voted for the first time as an American, as an Ohioan. There is a special election coming up on August 8th, 2023. And there is one issue on the ballot, just one, but it's a very important issue that could change the course of Ohio's constitution. That could change the course of Ohio's future.

You're probably wondering what it is. I've got some explaining to do. Let's get into it. Hey there, Allians and new listeners of the podcast. [00:01:00] Welcome back for another episode of Ayanna Explains It All. The podcast hosted by the black Muslim lady lawyer, sometimes funny gal, with an opinion on everything.

Born and raised in the hood, living in the suburbs of Northeast Ohio. Avoiding these Carly Russell stories. Listen, Carly, you had me in your corner. You had me in your corner. Natural born skeptic, cynic, not trusting of strangers, especially. You had me. You had me in your corner. Crazy girl. Ayanna Explains It All is the podcast that is available on 14 different streaming platforms, including the flagship Spotify, also Amazon music, Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, YouTube, just to name a few.

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I have a message that people need to hear. And also when you go to the website, you can find links to email me or send me a message to let me know what topics you want to have covered that you want me to lend my unique voice to. It is unique indeed. And this week I'm going to flame the ever living out of the state of Ohio.

And the Republican party. So if you're a Republican and [00:04:00] you're listening to this, Hey, don't take it personally or take it personally. I don't really care.

Listen, listen, Ohio Republicans. Now I know about the ones at the federal level. Okay. Ohio Republicans are some of the slickest, most awful people in this country. They work hard over time, even pouring millions of dollars into special interest packs to give monies. to candidates who will carry out their bidding.

They're only interested in protecting their corporate interests. That's it. They're only interested in protecting their corporate interests. In fact, this was big news. Um, in the last couple of years, one of the state house representatives was prosecuted and [00:05:00] the federal court For taking kickbacks from a corporation, you all might have heard of first energy, one of the biggest electrical suppliers in the state of Ohio the former Ohio House Speaker, Larry Householder in 2023 was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in one of the largest corruption scandals in state history. Larry Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges, a former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, were both convicted in March of 2023 of a single racketeering charge each after a six week trial. A jury found that householder orchestrated and Borges participated in a 60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by Akron based First Energy Corporation to [00:06:00] secure householders power, elect his allies.

And pass legislation containing a 1 billion bailout for two aging nuclear power plants owned by a first energy affiliate. And then to use a dirty tricks campaign to stifle a ballot effort to overturn the bill. And that information is taken from an article from the journal record. com of July 3rd, 2023, discussing the sentence of ex house speaker, Larry householder How Governor DeWine escaped responsibility in all of this is beyond me.

 I'm not saying that Republicans are bad and Democrats are not. Certainly we can be as disgusting. I'm just saying you all are the worst.

You are the worst. If I had to choose between the two, I would choose you as being the absolute worst. And this issue one thing is just, [00:07:00] I want to say this takes the cake, but I know that you all have more tricks up your sleeve. You always have something, you always have something, some way you're trying to finagle the government, finagle the American people, finagle your way into our brains, burrowing into our brains like a little bug to eat away at our senses so that we forget how awful you are and make us do what you want.

We know that the conservative dream is to have abortion outlawed in the entire country. And with Roe v. Wade being overturned recently by the Supreme court, we start to see their wet dreams becoming reality.

Their dream is to have corporations run everything from schools to prisons to hospitals, and they want to have women pump out as many babies as our uteruses can bear to hold. For whatever reason, they then don't take care of them either. They don't ensure that the educational systems are fit for [00:08:00] American children.

They don't ensure that people live in neighborhoods that are free from crime or that people are not so easily put in prison for crimes that are petty or for crimes they did not commit. They don't want to see the jails empty. They want to see them full because full jails and prisons means they make money.

They want to be taxed as little as possible. They want corporations to win because as Mitt Romney said, corporations are people, my friend, and corporations deserve, don't they? In fact, a corporation, while a corporate magnet is the reason why there is this special election

since the 2020 U. S. Census, Republicans in the legislative majority have attempted no less than four times to redraw congressional voting districts in the state of Ohio, districts that would favor their party and their voters in this state. They put non Republican voters and those in low income and primarily black [00:09:00] voting districts at a disadvantage when they drew these maps in choosing our representatives.

The Ohio General Assembly Is responsible for drawing both state and legislative congressional district boundaries, but the party with the majority in the state legislature holds significant influence over over the redistricting process. And in the state of Ohio, that is the GOP. The Ohio Constitution explicitly prohibits extreme partisan gerrymandering.

And the issue of gerrymandering has been a point of contention and concern in Ohio and across the United States. Critics of gerrymandering argue that It undermines the principles of democratic representation as it can lead to uncompetitive elections and limited voter choice. It may also result in elected officials becoming less [00:10:00] accountable to their constituents as they are in less competitive districts.

But The Ohio constitution gives the Ohio Supreme court the power to determine if a congressional district map unduly favors or disfavors a political party, but not to draw a replacement. So the Supreme court can decide if it's fair or not, if it's constitutional or not rather, but it does not have the power to draw a replacement.

So what they will do. is instead kick the map back to the parties to redraw and it trusts the parties to do the right thing. The Democrats draw a map, the GOP draws a map, but the GOP has control, has the last word.

The Ohio constitution explicitly prohibits extreme partisan gerrymandering. Now recall gerrymandering is the manipulation [00:11:00] of boundaries. So as to favor one party or class, you want to achieve a result. So, you draw these congressional districts in such a way that the majority of the voters in a particular district vote red or blue. In some cases, Democrats use gerrymandering too.

It's not illegal, but it's also not favorable. It's not, it's looked down upon. It really is, um, An unfair tactic used by political parties to ensure that they win districts and retain control in the state government or in the federal government. In my opinion, it's sick and it needs to be outlawed, but it isn't.

But the Ohio constitution explicitly prohibits extreme partisan. extreme partisan gerrymandering and the issue of gerrymandering has been a point of contention and concern [00:12:00] in Ohio and across the United States. Critics of gerrymandering, critics of gerrymandering argue that it undermines the principles of democratic representation as it can lead.

to uncompetitive elections and limited voter choice. It may also result in elected officials becoming less accountable to their constituents as they are in less competitive districts. But the Ohio constitution goes a step further and gives the Ohio Supreme Court the power to determine if a Congressional district map unduly favors or disfavors a political party and is therefore unconstitutional, but the Constitution does not give the Ohio Supreme Court the power to redraw the map.

Instead the Ohio Supreme Court kicks the map back to the party in control. And in this case, it is the G O P to redraw the map and trusts that it will do the right thing

and this is what we have been dealing with for several years in the [00:13:00] state of Ohio. The Ohio Supreme Court has twice struck down congressional maps drawn by Republican. Officials after the 2020 census, although the second map nonetheless was used in the 2022 elections, that map resulted in 10 republicans and five democrats winning elections and republicans have said time and again that they don't give a fuck that they are in power and they have the power to do this and because of the legal challenges, the timeline was not enough to prevent this current congressional map to be used in the 2022 elections.

They had to go with it because that was what we had and the election was coming up and they and the Ohio Supreme Court would not allow the election to be put off. In order to get this map situation straight now. And why does this matter? Well, besides the disenfranchisement of Ohio voters, the constitution being ignored comes to bear [00:14:00] with legislation and issue one, which is the subject of the special election on August 8th, 2023 is. About how we change the Ohio constitution. It concerns solely adopting amendments, but not just any amendments, it's citizen led initiative amendments that make it onto the ballot.

That is the concern of issue one. And when your party controls the house. The Senate, the Supreme Court, the governor's office. There is nothing stopping you from pushing forth amendments that outlaw abortion, outlaw teaching certain subjects in schools that outlaw birth control, but also to pass legislation, which the governor will readily approve.

that favor your interests and your values. In fact, the point of this entire special [00:15:00] election is to allow the GOP to prevent an amendment to the Ohio constitution that would guarantee, that is, would protect a woman's right to choose. In fact, they want to have abortion outlawed in the state. They want to prevent this amendment.

And this language and this choice and this freedom from being written into the Ohio constitution. So the effort from the Ohio Republicans is to push to change the rules over how constitutional amendments are adopted when they are initiated by the citizens of the state of Ohio. And the way they've done this is by masquerading this.

election, this vote, this vote. Yes, for issue one as preventing outside interests from influencing state constitutions. But this was quickly [00:16:00] deconstructed by journalists or anyone paying attention. These suspicious, these suspicious efforts of Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who acknowledged that if issue one passes, that it would make it harder for a constitutional amendment on abortion to pass. In fact, it would make it harder for any constitutional amendment to pass that is citizen initiated, not just abortion, all of them, but they have to press abortion.

Because that is what they want to outlaw the most. They don't really care about anything else except abortion. Republicans are one issue voters. They just fucking are. They can deny it all they want to. Abortion is the only issue. That decides who will win an election in a red state or a red county or a red city. Abortion. Abortion. Abortion. Abortion. All you have to do is say is you're going to outlaw abortion. All you have to do is say you're going to [00:17:00] protect, you're going to protect the Baibys and you'll win. Because this is all they care about.

Currently, there are two ways that an issue can get on the ballot.

Now most of the information that I'm using comes from my favorite places, ballotpedia.org and common cause.org. Check out those websites for information on issues in your own state

So there are 2 ways to have an amendment issue. Get to the election ballot. First is through the General Assembly and second is through citizen led initiatives. Issue one doesn't affect how the general assembly works when they're putting issues on the ballot. Issue one deals solely with citizen led initiatives. And if issue one passes, it will require more than 60%. Of the [00:18:00] electors voting, yes, to become a constitutional amendment.

Currently, as I said, all we need is a simple majority 50% plus one, but if issue one passes, it will require 60% of the vote to become a constitutional amendment. That is require more than a majority of voters. To adopt a new constitutional amendment, which will have the effect of disallowing any legislation that the majority white, wealthy and voting population disagrees with.

I guarantee you. I guarantee you that is their aim and that is what is going to happen. But the great hope is that this issue, this amendment to the constitution, if it passes, that it will prevent anything so called liberal from [00:19:00] being enshrined in the constitution. And what is something that Republicans think liberals love more than anything? Abortion. Yeah, they think that's all we care about, but no, we are not one issue voters. We look at the whole picture. We don't vote with our vaginas. We don't vote with our Bibles or Qurans. We actually use our head. We actually use common sense.

And I wish more people would adopt this. Separate religion from the state and do what is best for the state. Not just your white Christian self, not just your black Christian, black Baptist self, but what is right for the entire country. Not just your black Muslim lawyer self. No. What is right for the entire country. And I believe that protecting reproductive rights, protecting and preserving [00:20:00] a woman's right to choose when, how, where, why to have a baby should be protected.

Republicans are afraid of Ohio becoming anti Christian, anti conservative, pro equality, pro equity, pro voting, pro choice. They hate it. They don't want it to happen. They're so scared. They are so scared.

Since 1912, there has only been one way to adopt a constitutional amendment in Ohio. And now in the year of 2023, the Ohio general assembly is saying we need to change that because it no longer serves our interest to have a simple majority of public votes. Now we need 60% of the people's votes 60% because a simple majority no longer serves their interest.[00:21:00]

And where does this 60% number come from? Well, apparently, GOP, um, interest groups and PACs have been pushing this 60% number because they believe that you cannot get 60% in Ohio. They believe very strongly that 60% of the people will not vote for this. That is why, that is why. They believe that they can get, that we can get 50% of people to agree to it. They believe that we can get a simple majority and that scares them.

So they want to change the majority requirements. They want to change the threshold. They want to move the goalpost to favor their party, their values, their interests. Do you see what's happening? They're scared. And so they're going to change the rules to the game mid game because this shit ain't over.

They're going to [00:22:00] change the rules of the game mid game so that they win the game and the other side loses. You have rules you don't like, you see yourself losing, you see your, you see things changing and you don't like it. And so what do you do? Oh, you change the rules because you have the power to do that.

And what gives you the power? Well, votes number one, but money, money. The only reason why issue one and the special election is happening is because of money.

In 2022, the GOP led legislature voted to abolish most special elections unless local governments were in a fiscal emergency. They complained that special elections were unnecessary due to low voter turnout. And that we ended up with ballot measures that passed simply because not enough [00:23:00] people showed up to say no, but when they realized in 2023 after the fall of Roe v.

Wade, when they realized when they looked at the numbers of Ohioans who wanted a constitutional amendment, preserving a woman's right to choose, they realized that they could use a special election to change how citizen led it. Initiatives become ballot issues and become amendments because they're sure as hell not going to introduce an amendment outlawing abortion.

That's not going to happen because Ohioans would revolt. We would revolt, but, but. If they can chip away, chip away, chip away, chip away, chip away at abortion to make it so restrictive. That would be great for them. That's what [00:24:00] they want. They can't outlaw it altogether. Because they're looking at the numbers and they're seeing, yeah, they have numbers they can look at because in Ohio, in Ohio regulations, the revised code requires that abortions be tracked in the state of Ohio.

And there is an entire report you can get from the Ohio, uh, the state government that shows you all of the information on patients who have received an abortion. an abortion in the state of Ohio. Citizens and non citizens of the state of Ohio. They have age, race, region, uh, school grades, education, level, income level, number of pregnancies, number of children.

They track it all. All. [00:25:00] Eight. I mean, I mean, the breakdown is incredible. They do everything but put these women's and girls names and addresses in this report.

It's disgusting. They don't track, um, vasectomies. They don't track mammograms. They don't track colonoscopies. Abortions are the only medical procedure required by law. To be tracked, to be graphed, to be charted, to be broken down because Republicans want to know exactly who is receiving an abortion, what group is receiving an abortion.

And in the state of Ohio, it's mostly black women with white women, not far behind. There are women all over this state of all walks of life who are receiving them.

And they want to [00:26:00] track every single one of them so that they can go, Oh, look, it's mostly black, poor women who are younger than 30 receiving abortions so that they can target those women so that they can target those women. They do this so that they can target groups of women so they can say, well, it's not, it's not women in the city of Cincinnati, in the suburbs of Cincinnati, suburbs of Hamilton County, who are receiving these abortions.

It's mostly those poor, those poor in Cuyahoga County and Franklin County, those poor black women. It's not our women. They do this so they can track us. But again, in 2022, the GOP legislature voted to [00:27:00] abolish most special elections. It was a waste of time. It was a waste of money. People didn't show up. But when they realized that it didn't serve their interests, they decided, they decided to re adopt special elections provisions with a two pronged approach by way of Senate Bill 92 and Senate Joint Resolution 2, in case you want to go look that up and read it.

They decided that they could use those to fast track their resolution and adopted the resolution in May of this year to make it harder to get and adopted that resolution. So that they could have a special election to make it harder to pass citizen led issues as amendments to the Ohio constitution since 1912.

There has been one way one way. To have an amendment pass one way, [00:28:00] if it's a citizen led initiative, one way, and now they want to change it. Why? See, this is why you have to, you really have to ask yourself why all of a sudden, why all of the blue?

Special interest didn't matter in 2022, special interest didn't matter in 2021, special interest didn't matter in 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, didn't matter. Why in 2023 does it all of a sudden matter that we change the way amendments get on to the ballot? and pass in the state. Think, don't just let these people railroad you, cram this shit down your throat.

Think about why they want to do it. They always have a reason. They always have a reason. And usually, [00:29:00] usually it is selfish, self interested bullshit. They will use the people for their own gain, for their own sick, twisted games to maintain power and control over what a woman's uterus over a girl's uterus.

They want to keep you pregnant and pumping out babies. Why? Because also the citizenry in the state of Ohio is declining. And I, I mean, I can't imagine why. It's such a beautiful place to live. It's cold as fuck here in the winter. And at least this summer, it's been raining. Every. God. Darn. Week. We have casinos and amusement parks.

Woo! It's boring here. It's boring! I mean, you could, you could [00:30:00] afford to buy a house, certainly. Wonderful. Nice neighborhood. I live in a neighborhood that's rated as one of the top. In the state, and I get it. I love it. It's wonderful, but a lot of people don't want to live in Ohio because it's fucking cold here and it doesn't get hot enough in the summer.

I mean, that's the truth. It's miserable here during the winter, that winter solstice and that seasonal affective disorder. Oh, kills me, kills me. I'm trying to plot an exit. When my daughter graduates from high school, I'm plotting an exit. I can't, I can't do more winters. I can't do it. I love my house. I love my neighborhood.

I love where I live, but damn it. I'm sick of, I'm sick of how cold and dreary it gets, but that's just me. That's just me. And again, [00:31:00] I digress, but issue one is simply. To prevent the public from having a say in our constitution, they want to remove our say in our constitution. The general assembly wants to be the only body that has a say in the constitution where they do that at, where they do that at, the ballot measure, if passed, would amend Sections 1B, 1E, and 1G of Article 2 of the Constitution, and Sections 1 and 3 of Article 14 of the Ohio Constitution. And these articles concern how constitutional amendments are initiated and passed in the state, and legal challenges to adoption or submission of amendments at the Ohio Supreme Court.[00:32:00]

Now, citizen led initiatives are already tough to get on the ballot. It's, it's, it's, it's hard, okay? It's not easy at all. They're making it seem like this shit happens all the time, like it's so successful, like everybody's doing it. And every year we get an issue on the ballot, it simply is not true.

Currently, if a citizen feels that an issue is not addressed properly or at all in the Ohio Constitution, that person can follow the procedures outlined in the Ohio Constitution and Ohio Revised Code to submit a proposed constitutional amendment to the people of Ohio for a statewide vote. But in order to get a citizen led initiative on the ballot to amend Ohio's constitution, the following is required.

One, a petition of signatures from at least 44 [00:33:00] of the 88 counties in Ohio. Two, from each of the 44 counties, there must be signatures equal to at least 5% of the total vote cast for the office of governor in that county at the last gubernatorial election. And then the secretary of state must determine the sufficiency of the signatures no later than 105 days before the election.

And if some of the signatures are erroneous, The party has 10 days to cure, to cure them, to fix them. And if the initiative makes it past all of that, The issue then goes on the ballot where a simple majority, that is 50% plus one of state voters, vote yes or no to pass the amendment.[00:34:00]

Does that sound easy to you? No, it is not. It is not, okay? It is not.

If issue one passes, it would make it harder than it already is. It would increase the percentage of state voters who would have to vote yes to pass future proposed amendments from 50 to 60 signatures would have to be obtained from All 88 counties in Ohio and from each of the 88 counties, there must be signatures equal to at least 5% of the total vote cast for the office of governor in that county at the last gubernatorial election.

And it eliminates, if it passes, it will eliminate the 10 day cure period during which amendment campaigns can collect additional signatures if their first batch falls [00:35:00] short. In the last 15 years, of the 51 groups who attempted to get an initiative on the ballot, six succeeded. And of those six, three won.

And three lost. So 51 attempts, six ballot votes, three, one and three lost. But this is the danger they want you to be wary of. This is the scary thing they want you to, to, to, to seek their protection from. This is what they're so scared of. That's what they're scared of.

It's not even, it's not even possible. It's so hard to get this stuff on the ballot. It's not even possible that special interest could come in here and change and continue to change. And just every year we're voting on [00:36:00] amendments every single year. No, it is impossible. The fear is not real. They're drumming it up.

They're creating it. They're writing the script to make you afraid of special interest and why when they avail themselves of special interest and special interest money all the fucking time, all the time, but they need to do this special election now because it comes ahead of the November 2023 general election.

where there will be a vote on a measure that could write abortion protections into the state's constitution. That's why they are doing this because there is a citizen led initiative on the November, 2023 general election ballot to write abortion protections into the state [00:37:00] constitution. They don't want it.

Issue one is not about. Anything but blocking those abortion protection measures. And remember, the Secretary of State, Frank LaRose, admitted it. He said, it is about keeping radical pro abortion amendments out of our Constitution. The left wants to jam it in there this coming November. No jamming, honey. No, this has been ongoing for decades, trying to protect a woman's right to choose in the state of Ohio.

Nobody's jamming anything, but get this, check this out. The person funding this entire special election campaign for issue one is a millionaire GOP mega donor, a GOP. [00:38:00] Mega donor, not even from Ohio. He's not from Ohio. He's from Illinois. He's an Illinois shipping supplies Magnet with a history of donations to anti abortion groups and this information is coming from an investigation done by CBS News

But in Illinois, shipping supplies magnet with a history of donations to anti abortion groups who was the top funder of Protect Our Constitution. The main group supporting issue one, his name is Richard Ewelling. And I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. It's U I H L E I N. If it sounds familiar to you, that is because he is the founder.

Uline, the Shipping Supply Corporation, Uline, he gave [00:39:00] $4 million to the group. The group raised four point $85 million. Again, the C B SS news investigation found that you align. Had an outsized role in getting issue one on the ballot. In April, he gave $1.1 million to a political committee pressuring Republican lawmakers to approve the August special election.

Financial disclosures show a foundation controlled by IGN has given nearly $18 million to a Florida based organization pushing similar changes to the constitutional amendment process in states across the country. Campaign finance records show that the central group opposed to this amendment, one person, one vote, raised a total of $14.4 million, and another group called the 1630 fund gave $2.5 million to the effort. [00:40:00] So again, Republicans aren't the only ones paying, but Republicans are the worst at it. They are the worst because they will use money to take away your vote.

They will use money to take away your power. They will use money to dehumanize you. They will use money to trick voters. They will use money to control voters.

Meanwhile, the other side is out here trying to preserve your right to vote, trying to preserve your right to reproductive freedom, trying to preserve how you participate in the changing of your state's constitution. They want us to have a say. The Republicans don't. The Republicans do not want us to have a say.[00:41:00]

They want to be the only say and the final say. They have all the power here and they want to maintain it. And it scares them that the people will speak. They are afraid that the people will speak and the people will say what they want is to preserve reproductive rights in the Ohio Constitution.

Former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Republican, by the way, who retired this past December, she criticized Republican lawmakers for what she said is a strategic effort to thwart the will of the people. She said, it's misleading, it's deceptive, and if it weren't so serious, it would be laughable.

She said, when you keep changing the rules and moving the goalposts, she said, it's [00:42:00] misleading, it's deceptive, and if it weren't so serious, it would be laughable. You are intentionally trying to silence the vote of the people. And the will of the people, and in the state of Ohio, that is to protect access to abortion.

Ladies and gentlemen, they's and them's, abortion is healthcare. Abortion is healthcare. Access to abortion remains legal. in Ohio up to about 22 weeks. But in 2019, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a bill banning abortions in the state after a fetal heartbeat is detected at approximately six weeks. And that bill took effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v.

Wade, but it has put on, but it has been put on hold by a state court since [00:43:00] last September. And abortion rights groups in Ohio are raising funds nationally and working to get an amendment on the November ballot that would circumvent this legislation and enshrine protections in the state's constitution.

 Check out the Ohio Women's Alliance over on Facebook. They're an abortion rights group, a reproductive rights group in Ohio that are raising funds And working on getting issue one struck down and the amendment passed on the November ballot that would circumvent this legislation and enshrine protections in the state's constitution.

In a poll last year conducted by the Associated Press, 59% of voters in Ohio said that they believe [00:44:00] abortion should generally be legal. Remember I mentioned that Republicans decided that 60% was the number that they would change. The majority vote to why, because only 59% of Ohio voters believed that abortion should generally be legal.

 They knew that we could get more than 50% but they strongly believe and this is this is being this information is being disseminated to any Republican legislature to any Republican legislator willing to listen that 60% no one can get 60%. You can't get 60%. You can get more than 50, but you can't get 60%.

So that's the number that they want to change it to. This is sick. This is abysmal. This is diabolical. This is terrible.

They [00:45:00] eliminated special elections. Then they brought them back. Just so they could change how the people speak in this state, just so they can thwart the will of the people. They are vile. And how are they allowed to continue to get away with usurping the voting rights and the will of Ohio citizens? It's only because the citizens are not voting.

Voting numbers are deplorable. They're terrible. Especially in non presidential voting years and non presidential elections, even in the primaries for presidential candidates, the numbers are dismal. The people are not voting. And so whoever is in power is staying in power. Whoever wants to preserve their [00:46:00] hold on the legislature, whoever wants to preserve their hold on the General Assembly is preserving it.

They're not losing elections because people are not showing up to vote these people out of office. We're not paying attention to their movements and they know it. We're not paying attention to their language and they know it. We're not paying attention to the money that's buying them. That is buying them and they know it.

They know that voters are apathetic and tend to not show up to primaries and non presidential election years and that this will work in their favor. Even though they know that voters don't turn up for special elections, they're spending millions and millions and millions of dollars to make sure voters turn out to vote yes for issue one.

They're spending [00:47:00] millions of dollars on this like they never have before. There is a reason, there is a reason this is so important to them. They are trying to thwart the will of the people. They're thumbing their noses at us. They're telling us essentially to fuck off. I mean, that's just what they're doing.

That is what they are doing. Their whole purpose, their whole goal is to ensure that the will of a few, the will of a few becomes the will of all of us. That is not a democracy. The United States is a democracy. What they are doing is undemocratic.

One of the Republican state reps [00:48:00] has said that Republicans are working very hard to make Ohio a pro life state and that all the left, the Democrats want to do is write abortion on demand into Ohio's constitution. No, sir. No, sir. It's not abortion on demand. It's abortion. If you want one,

if you want one, you can choose one. You can choose what to do with your body. Imagine in a democracy having to write into the constitution that a woman, a person can choose what to do with their own human body.

My mind continues to be blown by the attitude of legislators and citizens of this country. [00:49:00] We shouldn't have to do this, but we have to do this. We have to guarantee the right to marry whoever we want. We have to guarantee the right to receive health care. We have to guarantee the right to,

we have to guarantee the right to fair housing, fair employment.

We're trying to get fair pay. Passed, fair pay legislation passed,

all of these things because people don't want to do the right thing. People want to make the will of a very few, the will of everyone. If the people are saying that we want abortion protections in our Constitution, then that is what should happen.

We [00:50:00] are not your factories. Our bodies are not your factories. Our bodies are not for you. They are for each individual human being. Bodily autonomy. Independence.

Independence! That's what this country is about, right? Land of the free, home of the brave. Pursuit of happiness. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. And the

playbook being executed in Ohio. It's also was also executed in South Dakota and Arkansas to change how amendments are adopted in the states.

Every individual has a right to make and carry out one's reproductive decisions, everyone. And the statewide vote coming up in November, if passed, would ensure that happens

and women [00:51:00] continue to be attacked. For our fundamental rights, we continue to be attacked for wanting bodily autonomy.

This election has implications for the rest of the country as what is happening in other states is now happening in Ohio. And what happens in Ohio will happen in other states. This is not an election you want to sit out. It is not an issue you want to ignore. Vote no on issue one. Consequences matter here.

And now that we know the consequences, we can prevent them. Vote no on issue one, Ohio.

And this has been Ayanna Explains It All, brought to you by Facts, Figures, and Enlightenment. Get out and vote. [00:52:00] Take care.