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Thursday, June 02, 2005

Ohio: Reform Ohio Now

From Pounder's DailyKos Diary on a new ballot initiative in Ohio -- Reform Ohio Now:

1. Campaign Finance Reform. In December 2004, the Ohio legislature increased the amount that large donors can give to politicians from $2,500 to $10,000 and weakened Ohio's century-old ban on corporate contributions. This initiative would lower contribution limits to $1,000 per election cycle for legislative candidates and $2,000 per cycle for statewide candidates, tighten the ban on corporate contributions, and prevent fat cats from skirting the limits by giving contributions through their children. (read the text of this measure here.)

2. Independent Redistricting. Most elections in Ohio are not competitive because politicians conspire in drawing districts that are handpicked to ensure that either a Democrat or Republican wins in a landslide. This initiative would take the redistricting process out of the hands of partisan incumbents and put this responsibility into a non-partisan commission whose members could not be lobbyists, former politicians, or party leaders. (read the text of this measure here.)

3. Election reform. Ohio elections are currently administered by the Secretary of State, who is elected in a partisan election. Previous Secretaries of State have Chaired the Campaigns of Presidential candidates and taken other actions that draw into question their impartiality in administering elections. This initiative would create a non-partisan elections board to adminster Ohio elections, ensuring that voters will have confidence in election outcomes. (read the text of this measure here.)

This effort needs VOLUNTEERS to collect signatures, you can sign up to volunteer right here

The corruption in Ohio is disgusting, I like the thought of citizens volunteering to collect signatures to clean up the mess.

Posted at 06:37 PM in Ohio | Technorati

Comments

Awesome Bob, we'll keep yuo informed how it goes.

Posted by: Pounder at June 2, 2005 07:43 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Best of luck. Independent redistricting is one of the MOST important things we can do by 2010. It'll still be a competitive environment, but it seems the kinds of extremists we see in leadership positions now would be sidelined in favor of moderation. As the nation moves forward (progresses), so will our politics.

Posted by: mcittone at June 6, 2005 12:56 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment