Ohio October Updates

10.3.2023

And as we prepare for the festive Fall season, we also prepare for our upcoming November General Election. See below for new resources and member updates. 

NEW Resources

  • Common Cause Ohio’s Executive Director Catherine Turcer will host a Fall “coffee hour” on October 18 at 8:30 am. These quarterly virtual meet-ups will be a new, informal way for us to stay connected and a great time for you to ask questions, make suggestions or talk about what’s happening in Ohio. RSVP today.
  • Check out our one-stop events page for redistricting, Election Protection, coalition events and partner programs.

Issue 1: Reproductive rights and legal protections for healthcare

There’s an important statewide issue on the ballot November 7—a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine individuals’ reproductive rights and access to reproductive health care, including abortion access. Thanks to our hard work in August, Ohioans protected our 50% +1 majority for passage of proposed constitutional amendments, so let’s get out and exercise our right to direct democracy. A “yes” vote would support amending the Ohio Constitution and ensure personal, private decisions are kept between individuals and their physicians. Have you been seeing a lot of misinformation? Be sure to direct folks to readtheamendment.com.

Important Dates

Make sure you have a plan to vote and encourage your friends and neighbors to make a plan. Use voteohio.gov to check your registration status, request an absentee ballot, or track your ballot. If you plan to vote in person, you must have an unexpired photo ID.

  • Oct. 10: Voter registration deadline
  • Oct. 11: Early voting starts at your county board of elections
  • Oct. 31: Deadline to request an absentee ballot
  • Nov. 7: Election Day. Polls open 6:30 am – 7:30 pm

Recruiting volunteers for Election Protection

Common Cause Ohio is working with voter rights advocates across the state to train and mobilize Election Protection volunteers to help their neighbors at the polls. Our goal is to position 1,000 volunteers at polling locations across nearly a dozen counties. Can you help us as a nonpartisan poll monitor this election?

  • Sign up for Early Vote Training here.
  • Sign up for Election Day Training here.
  • Sign up to volunteer as a Social Media Monitor here.

Lessons from August: Calling all poll workers

The Ohio Voter Rights Coalition is hosting a Poll Worker Meet Up this Wednesday, Oct. 4 @ 7pm.  We’d like to learn from August (and May) poll workers, particularly about the impact of Ohio’s new voter ID rules, in an effort for us to better support elections officials and poll workers in future elections. Register here.

Redistricting reform efforts

Ohio is one step closer to a citizens redistricting commission. Just yesterday, Attorney General Yost approved ballot language for the Citizens Not Politicians proposed initiative. This comes after the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed bipartisan maps last week, despite a rushed process with little room for public input. We also hosted the Citizens Not Politicians campaign in a Policy Deep Dive where former Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Sean Soendker Nicholson walked us through the details of the proposed amendment. You can watch the recording of the presentation or read the text of the amendment. I know we are all looking forward to taking mapmaking out of the hands of elected officials and creating a truly independent citizens redistricting commission.

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