Ohio constitution overhaul faces deadline, backlash
An increasingly unpopular effort by a group of Ohio Republicans to make it harder to change the state constitution by direct voting faces a critical juncture this week COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An effort by a Republican faction in Ohio to make it harder to change the state constitution faces a critical juncture this week, with action needed in the politically fractured Ohio House where the undertaking has so far stalled. Wednesday is the last day to get the job done if lawmakers mean to put a related ballot measure before voters on Aug. 8, according to the timeline determined by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s elections chief. However, scenarios could emerge among the plan's anxious GOP backers to blow past the cutoff without the plan's proponents relenting. The conflict comes amid similar Republican efforts to restrict direct democracy in Missouri, North Dakota and Mississippi, according to Fairness Project, a Washington-based group that pushes ballot measur...