On August 8, Ohio will fight for the soul of democracy in the heart of America. This fight will start off with a clarion call, a statewide special election with only one thing on the ballot: majority rule.

Issue No. 1 will undermine the principle of one-person, one vote in Ohio by requiring a supermajority of 60% approval on citizen-led constitutional amendments, and doubling the already tough signature collection criteria. Ohio Republicans, with their effective ultra-conservative single-party state and a good deal of help from outside capital, are seeking to eliminate the last vestige of the progressive movement that started in the early 1900s and finally divorce neoliberalism from democracy.

Despite the constant harassment of big business and allied reactionaries, progressive movements invigorated by the overturning of Roe v. Wade have gathered enough momentum to cement reproductive rights in the state constitution. Fearing this resurgent movement and its potential to bypass the Republican monopoly on power in the legislature, an ultraconservative reactionary contingent of politicians have led the charge to finally kill off direct democracy with Issue 1.

Ohio is a battleground in the fight over democratic governance. The conflict within the bourgeoisie over whether neoliberal democracy or reactionary authoritarianism is to be the ruling principle in this nation is being waged at the courthouses, legislatures, and newsrooms of the heart-shaped state. Ohio is a bellwether for national politics, and here the nation’s slide into fascism is plain reality.

Everyday people will need to exercise their democratic rights and vote down the legislature’s blatant power grab. The Ohio District of the Communist Party USA has been and will remain committed to the struggle to maintain and expand democratic rights for working people.

Image: Cincinnati teachers demonstrate against Issue 1 during Pride by Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (Twitter)

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