MOUNT VERNON — The proposed sovereignty amendment came about when Michael Young drafted amendment language earlier this year as an exercise for himself.
“People took an interest, and it turned into a real project,” he said. “The Ohio Constitution is puffed up with stuff that shouldn’t be there, and lacking some things that should be.”
He said the group developed a list of 10 to 15 topics it thought were important.
“We unanimously thought the sovereignty issue is the single most important topic that should be addressed,” said Young. “So we drafted an amendment, hashed through the language, and arrived at what we thought was a pretty good amendment.”
The group launched an amendment campaign at the tea party rally in Columbus on Aug. 1, and proceeded to collect 1,800 signatures.
“We needed 1,000 to turn it in to the state attorney general,” said Young.
The summary portion of the amendment was rejected by the attorney general as not being complete enough about the effects of the proposed amendment, said Young. After speaking with an assistant attorney general, Young said it was discovered that to resubmit the amendment, the group had to start from scratch.
“We were a little distraught over that fact,” he said. “Now, we think that rejection was probably a blessing because it allowed us to go in and make changes to the proposed language, and we beefed it up. ... What we added is strength, and I think the people of Ohio will be pretty excited with it.”
The amendment language is being finalized, then the summary will be written. From there, the amendment will be submitted to the Attorney Generals Office. If certified, it then goes to the State Election Board in the Secretary of State’s Office, where it will be reviewed to make sure it deals with only one topic. Young said about 410,000 signatures will need to be collected to get the amendment on the ballot. The goal is to have the amendment voted on in November 2010.
The Peoples Constitution Coalition of Ohio’s Web site is www.pccoh.com.
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