CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohioans voted big for abortion rights and recreational marijuana, repudiating the supermajority in the statehouse.

We’re talking about how the legislature doesn’t represent Ohioans wishes on Today in Ohio.

Listen online here.

Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, impact editor Leila Atassi and content director Laura Johnston.

You’ve been sending Chris lots of thoughts and suggestions on our from-the-newsroom text account, in which he shares what we’re thinking about at cleveland.com. You can sign up here: https://joinsubtext.com/chrisquinn.

Here’s what else we’re asking about today:

It’s the most divisive issue of our times, and Ohio has emphatically made clear where it stands on it. How did Ohio vote on abortion?

The question on making recreational marijuana was not nearly as divisive as abortion, but we did see a strange campaign of reefer madness scare tactics by the people trying to keep it illegal. Did that work?

Okay, so let’s talk in bigger terms about the meaning of this. Three times now, if you include Issue 1 on the August ballot, Ohio voters have repudiated their lawmakers. The legislators in the statehouse, who have their jobs because of gerrymandering, don’t represent Ohio. They represent a fringe group. They act like overlords. And now voters have taken control three times. What does this say for the future of politics in Ohio?

The biggest local issue on the ballot was 38 in Cleveland, the proposal to strip a whopping $14 million from the city budget and put it into the hands of regular people. City officials hated this. What about the voters?

We had a potentially disturbing anomaly arise with voting involving college students. What was the problem, and how big might it be?

Ballots across Northeast Ohio were loaded with local races. Way too many to highlight. Let’s talk highlights. Did former Cleveland Councilman Jeff Johnson win his bid to be a judge? Did Earle Turner keep his seat as Cleveland Clerk of Courts? What else stood out?

Halloween’s over. Election Day is over. Next up, Thanksgiving. And it is coming fast. When was the last time it was this early?

The Cleveland Institute of Music is refusing to utter a word about this, not even to say no comment, but it has some explaining to do. What did 60 percent of the student body say in their petition calling for new management?

This has to be the silliest idea to come down the retail pike in ages. What is Cinemark, the movie theater company, doing to expand sales of its Styrofoam like popcorn and overpriced Raisinets and Sour Patch Kids?

We have an Apple podcasts channel exclusively for this podcast. Subscribe here.

Do you get your podcasts on Spotify? Find us here.

RadioPublic is another popular podcast vehicle, and we are here.

On Google Podcasts, we are here.

On PodParadise, find us here.

And on PlayerFM, we are here.

Read the automated transcript below. Because it’s a computer-generated transcript, it contains many errors and misspellings.

Chris (00:01.1)

I think Matt Huffman will forever regret that statement he uttered early in the year saying, we can do anything we want because the voters now three times have said, oh yeah, it’s the day after election day. It’s a big day in Ohio. It’s a big day on Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the plane dealer.

Lisa (00:01.334)

I think Matt Huffman will forever regret that statement and others in the year saying we can do anything we want. The voters now three times have said, oh yeah, it’s the day after election day. It’s a big day in Ohio. It’s a big day today in Ohio. We just popped out of discussion from thepubic.com and a plain dealer. I’m Chris Quain. I’m here with Laura Johnston, Lisa Garvin, and Courtney Escalpy, and we’re gonna spend some time

Chris (00:24.344)

I’m Chris Quinn. I’m here with Laura Johnston, Lisa Garvin, and Courtney Astolfi. And we’re going to spend some time talking about the results from yesterday, which did have one big surprise, but most of it was not. Courtney, it’s the most divisive issue of our times and Ohio has emphatically made clear where we stand on it. How did Ohio vote on abortion?

Lisa (00:31.388)

yesterday, which didn’t happen once, but most of it was not. For me, it’s the most divisive issue of our times in Ohio, and it’s automatically made clear there and now, how did Ohio go from a major…

courtney (00:46.981)

Well, last night’s results were crystal clear. 57% of Ohioans who voted yesterday were in favor of reproductive freedoms and 43% opposed. Now that’s, uh, you know, not too surprising of a spread. That’s kind of what polling has shown us where Ohioans stand on this issue. And it’s also analogous to that vote back in August, the special election when Republican lawmakers tried to raise the bar for constitutional amendments and in

Lisa (00:47.154)

Well, let’s make the salt work crystal clear. 57% of Ohioans who voted yesterday were in favor of reproductive freedom, and 43% opposed. Now, that’s not too surprising of a spread that’s kind of been pulling to show us where Ohioans stand on this issue. And it’s also analogous to that vote back in August, the special election, when Republican lawmakers tried to raise the bar for constitutional amendments and in Hamburg.

courtney (01:16.049)

this vote yesterday. So rock solid steady Ohioans are overwhelmingly in favor of abortion rights and reproductive freedoms coming out of last night.

Lisa (01:17.808)

So, rock solid, steady Ohioans are overwhelmingly in favor of abortion rights and reproductive rights coming out of class. Well, we’ve been saying since the beginning of the year that everybody should do exactly the other thing, vote in the same way.

Chris (01:29.196)

Well, we’ve been saying since the beginning of the year that everybody knew exactly how they were going to vote on this issue. If it came to a vote, that all the campaigning wouldn’t matter because people made their minds up long ago. And you’re right. Every poll pretty much showed this ratio, that roughly 57% of Ohio believes in the right to an abortion. That’s exactly how it came through. And it’s a very clear amendment.

Lisa (01:53.819)

came through. And it’s a very clear message, right? There’s no missing words about what it says.

Chris (01:57.764)

There’s no mincing words about what it says, that it enshrines in the Constitution a woman has an absolute right to abortion. The legislature can, if it wants, try and whittle that away and play some games, but that’s a risky thing to do when the voters have spoken as loudly as they have spoken, right?

courtney (02:21.165)

Yeah, well, I mean, like you said, there is some room for tinkering here just on the like you said, the amendment was quite clear in what it was stating Ohioans were entitled to here. But we’re going to have to see how this plays out in the court, how this interacts with other laws that the General Assembly has related to abortion. There’s a lot of nitty gritty that’s going to unfold, likely through the court process.

Lisa (02:32.023)

yeah it we’re going to see how it’s general that

courtney (02:45.905)

But, you know, when we talked to Nancy Kramer last night, co-chair of Ohioans united for reproductive rights, she really kind of showed last night’s results as, you know, Ohioans of all political stripes don’t want the government making these healthcare decisions for them. That this is a, an issue that crosses party lines and maybe clearly doesn’t, doesn’t capture the staunchest members of the Republican party or, you know, the folks who believe in the right to life. But.

You know, she said this, this grabbed a big swath of Ohioans and the results show that. Now on the other side, we were not really sure where it goes from here. The leaders who are campaigning against issue one were, you know, kind of reluctant to share their next steps saying they were still digesting the results, you know, but on the other hand, Ohio Senate, you know, president Matt Huffman said this wasn’t going to be the end. He said it was going to be.

Lisa (03:21.132)

on the other side, we’re not really sure where it goes from here. The leaders who were campaigning against issue one were kind of reluctant to share their next steps, saying they were still digesting the results. But on the other hand, Ohio Senate President Hancock said this wasn’t going to be the end, he said it was going to be the beginning of a revolving door of doubt that leads to a deal with the state.

courtney (03:41.981)

the beginning of a revolving door of ballot campaigns to repeal and replace issue.

Chris (03:47.424)

Yeah, he said the same thing after the previous issue one in August that they would try and come back on it. I’m not sure. Look, here’s the thing on abortion. In every case across America where abortion has been a factor in an election, the anti-abortion people have lost and they have tried dastardly tactics. The latest one yesterday was arguing that the Constitutional Amendment would allow women to kill their children after they’re born, that there could be a post.

natal abortion, which was just completely ridiculous, but they were articulating that. This is a loser. Look, three candidates on the Republican side are running to unseat Sherrod Brown next year. All three of them are anti-abortion. All three of them would vote for a national ban on abortion, and that runs completely counter to what the constituents in Ohio want. I think this vote gives Sherrod Brown a gigantic

If these guys get in, they’re going to go against what the voters of Ohio have declared in a landslide. 57% is huge, man. So they can say all they want about whittling away at it, but you can’t not see these numbers and think, wait, I am going against the tidal wave of voters.

Lisa (05:08.646)

Yeah, but they did do that with gerrymandering, so, you know, they went against the will of the voters twice.

Chris (05:15.38)

Yeah, I just I but they all look Matt Huffman is foolish enough to see himself in the governor’s office. I’m sure You can’t run for the governor If you try to undo the will of the voters because that’s going to be used against you The voters have spoken there is nothing more sacrosanct Than a vote of the people it’s what democracy is based on and they voted we should point out They tried in issue one in august to make the threshold for passing this 60

If they’d have gotten that through, abortion would not be legal as a right in Ohio today because we didn’t have 60% of the vote. That was their sinister plan to have the minority rule the majority.

courtney (05:59.069)

Yeah, because they knew the populace was not on their side. You know, I mean, it clearly paints a picture, not just that Ohioans have a decisive view of this, but leaders know that and are working to, you know, suppress that or circumvent that in some way. The sinister is a word for it, for sure.

Chris (06:19.404)

I don’t think given what we’ve seen out of the legislature the last few years that there’s any wisdom there. They just do wacko things. But a wise person would look at the vote in August, including in red areas. They would look at the vote yesterday and realize they are running a foul of the will of the people and reevaluate what they’re trying to do. And maybe, maybe there’s somebody there with some sense that might raise that and say, you know,

The people have made pretty clear what they want. We’re not their overlords. This isn’t a fascist society. It is a democracy. We need to listen to the will of the voters. What you’re seeing is the legislature that seems like it’s heading into fascism. We know better than you do what you need. You’re gonna do our will, not yours. Laura?

laura (06:58.882)

I just don’t.

laura (07:09.462)

I just feel like the reason that people go into politics is not always for the good of the people and power corrupts and people get there and all they care about is staying in power and they have to raise enough money to get reelected and then they’re kowtowing to those special interests as well as their gerrymandered district. I don’t think they look at the big picture.

Chris (07:27.721)

Yeah, but

Yeah, but if you want to stay empowered, it’s not really a good idea to run up against 57% of the voters. You know, a cynic to Today in Ohio. The question on making recreational marijuana legal was not nearly as divisive as abortion, but we did see a strange campaign of Reaper Madness scare tactics by the people trying to keep it illegal. Lisa, it didn’t work, did it?

laura (07:37.305)

I agree with that.

Lisa (07:55.243)

It did not.

Lisa (08:00.37)

The yes votes were just under 57% to 43% against. We are now the 24th state to legalize recreational marijuana. And Tom Herron with the coalition to regulate marijuana like alcohol, crowed about this landslide victory. He said Ohio and spoke loud and spoke.

clear and they want pot regulated like alcohol. Now, if you break down the results by county, the urban counties were way over 60%. In Cuyahoga County, 66.7% voted yes on issue one out of 384,000 votes cast. Franklin, 67.7%. There were 412 votes cast there. Lake County at 50, just under 59%. Summit at 60%. And then Geauga, probably our most conservative.

Northeast Ohio County, they voted yes. 51.7% of voters in Geauga County voted yes on issue one out of 40,000 votes cast. So the legislature can amend or repeal this, you know, because it’s a citizen initiated statute, as opposed to in a constitutional amendment. They’ve talked about that they may change the 10% tax rate, the allowable THC levels.

and possibly redirecting some of the marijuana tax revenue to fund county jails and law enforcement training. Senator Matt Huffman says that he has a problem with the jobs and equity fund. He says it’s a cash grab by the pot industry at the expense of the state, trying to emerge from the opioid epidemic. And Protect Ohio Workers, which was the anti-issue two.

Scott Milburn, the spokesman says, oh, there are many changes and appeals coming. And he says, we need to spare Ohioans from buyer’s remorse.

Chris (09:48.532)

The idea that Matt Huffman wants to take down that fund, that is the fund that’s aimed at making sure that minorities and women participate in the wealth. So you can kind of understand why Matt Huffman might be against that, given their desire to have male white supremacy in the state house. The

Lisa (10:05.522)

Isn’t it interesting though that they want the money diverted to county jails? That seems like a weird leap of logic to me because I would think with recreational marijuana being legal now, there would be fewer people being put in jail for it.

Chris (10:18.688)

Yeah, although in Cuyahoga County, I don’t think anybody’s going to complain about getting extra money for jails. What struck me about this, this is another one where anybody that just underestimates the Ohio voter is a fool because there were so many false claims made about this issue, about, you know, you’re going to be surrounded by people on the highway that are high and it’s going to be a disaster. That stuff was everywhere. It was a reefer madness all over the place.

Lisa (10:43.552)

Mm-hmm.

Chris (10:48.24)

And it didn’t work. You know, the people are smarter than that. I do wonder though, Lisa, if all of those anti-people were largely older people and that the kind of silent people, 40 and under, just had the determination, I’m gonna go vote and I’m gonna make this happen because this is stupid. How can alcohol be legal and marijuana be illegal?

Lisa (11:09.886)

Well, I will say this, I went and voted, I live in Lindhurst. I went and voted right around 1130. So it was right around the lunch hour and I, you know, all the voting booths were full and it was mostly younger people and Lindhurst is kind of an older demographic city. So I was shocked to see almost all younger people there voting when I was there.

courtney (11:28.871)

Yeah, I had a similar experience in Cleveland usually when I go. It’s a lot of older folks and when I was there, it was a lot of people in my age group.

Chris (11:38.4)

I’m just glad to see that the lies that were told in both campaigns didn’t seem to get any traction whatsoever. I think it’s a sign people don’t trust government, they don’t trust anything. So they’re going based on their own experience and they recognize that these ads are total BS. But I’m glad to see that they have that wisdom. They’re smarter than people like Matt Huffman say they are. You’re listening to Today in Ohio.

Okay, so let’s talk in bigger terms about the meaning of these two issues. Three times now, if you include issue one on the August ballot, Ohio voters have repudiated the lawmakers. The legislators in the state house who have their jobs because of gerrymandering don’t represent us. They represent the fringe part of the Republican Party and they act like overlords. Voters have now taken control three times and said, no, we don’t care what you say. We’re not going to buy your nonsense campaigning.

we’re taking control. Laura, what does this say for the future of politics in this state?

laura (12:41.782)

We might be seeing a lot more voter initiated amendments, really, if we can’t elect representatives who will represent us because the state legislature is so out of touch with what regular Ohioans throughout the entire state want. And this is because of gerrymandering because they have very safe districts. They’re either D or R. Most of them are R. That’s the majority. And they just have to win a primary where the fringiest…

Lisa (12:58.682)

And this is because of garrisoning. Because they have very same districts. They’re either D or R. Most of them are R, that’s the majority. And they just have to run a primary where the primaries candidates tend to stand out because it’s the most partisan voters who vote. Because the majority of voters, probably in most areas, are actually independents, and they don’t vote in those primaries. We talked about that before in our civil discourse series, that these partisan primaries really get very diametrically opposed to candidates

laura (13:09.142)

candidates tend to stand out because it’s the most partisan voters who vote because the majority of voters probably in most areas are actually independents and they don’t vote in those primaries. So we’ve talked about that before in our civil discourse series that these partisan primaries really get very diametrically opposed candidates onto the final ballot when the general election happens. And Andrew Tobias wrote about this last night and he talked about

The fact that all of the House Republicans who last in November of 2021, co-sponsored a bill that would ban all abortions in Ohio with no exceptions for rape or incest. Obviously that would be totally against what Ohioans believe. They all still got reelected and they won with an average of 76% of the vote. So they’re safe regardless of what they say.

Lisa (13:55.251)

and out you

Chris (13:56.84)

Well, you know, I was thinking there’s a lot of talk and we talk about it a lot that we need open primaries that the parties have destroyed our political system because they’re gaming it now. And it would be hard to get that thrown out. You know, we do know Rob Portman is going to study it as part of his institute. But then I wondered what if one party decided to do that? What if one party said, hey, we’re going to let

Lisa (14:07.066)

And it would be hard to get that thrown out. You know, we’re off to a lot of stuff. We just hope it succeeds. But then I will use, what if one party decided to do this? What if one party said, hey, we’re going to let anybody come and go and vote in our committee?

Chris (14:20.584)

anybody who wants to vote in our primary. We know that what is it 65% of us are registered independents. So the bulk of us don’t get to pick the candidates. If one party lets you without declaring that you’re a part of that party. So say, suddenly 80% of Ohio was voting in one party’s election, it would be very likely that candidate would then prevail in November. So all it would take is one party to say we’re opening the doors.

Lisa (14:43.018)

So how do you get to the point where you say, we’re all for the good of the world? Well, I’m not going to do anything for the world because, you know, we’re all for the good of the world. And that’s because the Democrats, you know, have been, and today’s the day of it. How is that?

Chris (14:46.616)

You know, I don’t think the Republicans will do it because Jerry Mandring has worked for him and they’re numpskulls. But the Democrats who are, you know, have nothing, they could easily do it. How would that change things overnight?

laura (14:58.562)

That’s a really interesting idea. The thing is you don’t actually have to declare or register for a party in Ohio. All you have to do is request that primary ballot. I mean, right. But Republicans would like to change that and make it so that you can’t switch that easily, but you know, you could request a Democratic primary ballot for one thing and then request an independent one year and a Republican one year. So it’s not like you have to go through a gauntlet.

Lisa (14:58.686)

That’s a really interesting idea. The thing is, you don’t actually have to declare or register for a party in Ohio. All you have to do is request that primary ballot. Maybe. But Republicans would like to change that and make it so you can’t switch that easily. But you know, you could request a Democratic primary ballot for one thing and then request an independent one year and a Republican one year. So it’s not like you have to go through a gauntlet. I don’t want to be ever in a Republican one year.

Chris (15:07.596)

but then you’re in the party.

Chris (15:20.848)

Yeah.

Yeah, but I don’t want to be ever counted as a member of one of these parties. I think that they’re terrible. I think they’re destroying the country. They’re destroying. Look what the Democratic Party in Cuyahoga County has done to county government. But if but if I could if I could vote in the primary, which I can’t, I would. And without having to tag myself as a member of a party. And I imagine most independents would gleefully do that. It would be interesting. Look, the question of what it means for Ohio politics.

If anybody has any sense, they should look at this. And if you want to run for governor in three years, you should be looking at this because the state is not what you believe it is based on the gerrymandered legislature. People are much more open-minded. We are a centrist state, despite what the legislature looks like. And if you want to run for statewide office, you should be looking at that.

laura (16:10.093)

Yeah.

laura (16:17.774)

I mean, I grew up in Ohio always being pretty proud of the fact that it was this bellwether state, right? That we were pretty reasonable people. We had a wide variety of demographics and we have cities, we have country, we have suburbs and it seems like a microcosm of America. So in the last couple of elections, when it seemed like, oh, we live in a purely red state or we live in a blue bubble in a very red state, it felt really disconcerting. So you look at these results and you realize that Ohio is more centrist.

Lisa (16:18.138)

I grew up in Ohio always being pretty proud of the fact that it was a spell-weather state, right? That we were pretty reasonable people. We had a…

laura (16:47.382)

then you would be led to believe because of, you know, Trumpers and the way the last couple of elections have gone. Obviously, when we have statewide elections, DeWine was elected handily. We had JD Vance won by eight points, I believe. So when you have statewide, they’re still going Republican. And I mean, I think we still lean that way. But that doesn’t mean that you believe everything that the Republican overlords are trying to sell you.

Lisa (16:54.978)

when we have statewide elections, DeWine was elected candidly, we had Jayce Vance won by eight points I believe. So when you have statewide, they’re still going Republican. And I mean, I think we still lead that way, but that doesn’t mean that you believe everything that the Republican overlords are trying to tell you. Oh yes, the Republican. The Republican. The Republican.

Chris (17:15.172)

we also get terrible candidates because of the party system that nobody really gets excited about. We haven’t had a candidate anybody’s been excited about in a long time in Ohio. So I think getting rid of that. Look, next November it’s pretty clear I think that we’ll be voting on a constitutional amendment that takes the redistricting out of the hands of the elected fools that are trying to keep their jobs and puts it into the hands of a non-elected commission. So that’s a good step. We can finally start to whittle away

laura (17:37.366)

Mm-hmm.

Chris (17:44.384)

Maybe we can get an amendment on the ballot that would open up primaries and get the parties out of it because they are such a mess.

laura (17:51.854)

And that’s why the August election was so important, right? Because if you have this state legislature that’s so out of touch with what the majority of Ohioans want, then the only way to get what Ohioans want is to go forth with a ballot issue because you can’t depend on your representative to represent you. And that’s really not the way it’s supposed to work in a representative democracy.

Chris (18:07.661)

Yep.

Chris (18:14.308)

They ought to have a big sign on the front of the state house with a quote, we can do anything we want to with a jagged red line ripping through the letters. The dumbest things a politician has ever said. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. The biggest local issue on the ballot was 38 in Cleveland, the proposal to strip a whopping 14 million dollars from the city budget and put it into the hands of regular people. City officials hated this. We editorialized against it. It seemed like it was heading for a win.

Courtney, what did the voters decide?

courtney (18:46.573)

It was a crazy night last night watching the tallies come in for issue 38, known as the People’s Budget. It failed narrowly in the end with a final spread of 51% against and slightly below that in favor. It was a difference of just 1387 votes that decided this against issue 38. And the issue got up to a lead of about.

a thousand votes against issue 38. And they just managed to hold onto that all night as the votes kept coming in. And that was the final tally. And what I find interesting here, when I talked to council president Blaine Griffin last night, who kind of led the charge along the city council against this issue, and when I talked to the people’s budget campaign manager, Molly Martin, both kind of took the split vote as confirmation that

They were striking on something accurate here that the voters were on their side in an important way.

Chris (19:53.112)

Well, there’s a basis for that, though. I mean, I think the fact that so many people voted for those shows, there’s dissatisfaction with the way county council is governing. And this should be a wake-up call to council. They came close. Look, the general principle behind this is a good one, but the nuts and bolts of this thing were a disaster. That’s why our editorial board came out very strongly saying, don’t do this. It’s a bad idea.

But wouldn’t it be a wonderful gesture by council now to say, let’s take a half million dollars out of our budget, not 14 million. Let’s get some people together and see what they come up with. Let’s do a pilot project just to see and venture into this area instead of reading this as some affirmation that they won big. They almost didn’t. And turnout in Cleveland is terrible. It always is terrible. If it had been higher, they might have gone down.

Remember, the progressives have one big with Justin Bibb as mayor and with issue 24 of the Civilian Police Commission. This very easily could have passed and it’s what they do next that matters, right?

courtney (20:58.937)

You know, I think it’s interesting. This morning we got a, you know, kind of a news release statement on this from council and there was kind of a nod to the close call here, but you know, basically they said that it revealed that we need to do more work on civic engagement, participation and awareness. How that plays out though, I’ll be curious to see because, you know, I can’t see them at all, Chris, doing what you’re suggesting. Never, right?

Lisa (21:04.847)

taken on this council and there was kind of a nod to the close call here but you know basically they said that it revealed that we need to do more work than they did in the past.

Chris (21:16.633)

Good.

Chris (21:25.808)

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Lisa (21:28.69)

And I think the turnout in Cleveland is kind of an indictment against issue 38. I mean, the big argument was that they were going to enfranchise all these disenfranchised people. Well, these disenfranchised people didn’t go to the polls and vote for it.

Chris (21:42.712)

Yeah, that’s a good point, Lisa. I also think for people that question whether our endorsement editorials matter, in a vote this close, you have to think we made a difference on this one, that people who are unsure of this might have relied on the strong words we had involving it.

courtney (22:00.845)

You know, it’s worth noting, you know, when I did talk to Council President Griffin last night, he’s, you know, pointing to his members on council and the coalition they built with the unions and other organizations in town to come out against this proposal, he really kind of credited their efforts on this defeat. And it’s hard to see that wouldn’t have played a role. He even, you know, threw a little bit of shade at without naming him, Mayor Justin Bibb really wasn’t out there.

campaigning and Blaine noted that other elected officials really didn’t take the lead on this. But, you know, he said that this showed that individuals, you know, voters listen and trust their council members. A lot of council members were out pounding the pavement telling people to vote no on this. And he said, you know, he basically took it as, you know, people are somewhat, you know, satisfied with the job council’s doing as well here.

Chris (22:59.744)

Well, he’s out of his mind. But I think he’s right that this is testament to the wisdom of the voters. I also think he’s right that every part of the campaign against this was necessary. If you took any part of it away, this could have passed. When a vote that close, everything matters.

courtney (23:17.241)

And he compared it, like you said, to issue 24, the police reform that went through in 2021. He said council really didn’t get out there on that one and it passed. Council got out there on this one and it failed.

Lisa (23:23.138)

get out there on that one. It has. Got out there on this one. Okay, we’ve got two more lectures first again. We’ll go down.

Chris (23:28.196)

Okay, we got two more election stories to get to before we close out. We had a potentially disturbing anomaly arise with voting involving college students and then late in the night running out of ballots. Lisa, what was the problem with the college students and how big might it be?

Lisa (23:42.389)

Yeah, we heard from Common Cause Ohio and the League of Women Voters of Ohio. They said that they heard from dozens of Ohio State University students who did not receive their requested mail-in ballots. Many tried to vote at campus polling places Tuesday, and of course, they can’t do that. They have to cast a provisional ballot.

The League of Women’s Voters’ Naze Kaposha says a significant number of ballots from OSU area zip codes have not yet been returned. Some students in other areas had the same issues, but they didn’t see this issue much outside of college towns in Ohio.

The Cuyahoga Board of Elections Mike West says, it’s not uncommon. He says campus mail is notoriously undependable. It’s often handled by students instead of mail carriers. Now you can still cast a provisional ballot at the County Elections Office before Monday the 13th. That excludes Veterans Day, which is holiday. Absentee ballots had to have been postmarked by Monday the 6th, and they have to arrive before Monday the 13th.

And there were some issues, I know at Fernway Elementary in Shaker Heights, the ballot counting machines failed at about 8 45 a.m. but they were able to fix that within the hour. And a couple of precincts did run out of ballots. I think one was Lakewood.

Chris (24:59.052)

Yeah, it was when I was a bunch at the Valley View, Lakewood, we can’t Rocky River. And what we heard, you know, I love the people on subtext because I put out the call last night saying, Hey, is this widespread? And heard from people who were working the polls. And they said, look, there’s a system in place to make sure you don’t run out of ballots when you get to a certain place in the deck of ballots, there’s a slip that says you’re running out of ballots call for more. So there were places that did do that actually in one place, I think it was South Euclid.

The ballots that came were from Lindhurst and they couldn’t use them. But the process was there. What it sounds like might’ve happened is poor training because election workers, when they hit that slip, didn’t call for the extra ballots. So at the 11th hour last night, they were having to use the machine set up for people with disabilities where they have to type in all the information. These ballots are precinct specific. So they have to be for that specific precinct. Anyway.

It sounds like there were problems. It’s kind of mind boggling that there weren’t enough. We heard from somebody in Jogga County that said, they knew the total number of voters registered and they got 5% more ballots than that. So they couldn’t possibly run out of them. That seems like the wise thing to do. Better to have some wasted paper than deny somebody the chance to vote. We did get reports of people went home, they gave up, didn’t get to cast a ballot. Go ahead.

laura (26:23.131)

And I was just going to say, we keep getting emails. Just got one this morning. Somebody at Miami University, Chapman University, people saying Ohio State. So if you do hear of somebody that had trouble getting a ballot, the absentee ballot, we still want to hear from you.

Chris (26:37.236)

Yeah, we’re going to go deeper on this because this sounds like it’s a much bigger problem than it should be. And why? I mean, this is this is dumb. These are kids that want to vote. They want to enter the whole process of democracy. And because of these problems, we’re denying them. What what kind of democracy denies the youngest active participants the chance? And it’s more widespread elections offices are trying to downplay it. The hell with them. This is a big problem for the next election. We’ve got to get it fixed.

laura (27:05.578)

And Ohio State says they’re not students, they are postal carriers, so don’t blame students. And we had some people that were off campus too, that just happened to go to the school, but live in the area. So I don’t think we can blame kids for this one.

Lisa (27:06.518)

they’re not students, they are postal carriers. So don’t blame students. So, and we had some people that were off campus too, that just happened to go to the school, live in the area. So I don’t think we can blame kids for the whole lot. I think we want to do more. Let’s say we have a number of audience for this process and should be able to.

Chris (27:18.112)

No, we want and we want to hear more. Let’s so let’s hear we have a younger audience for this podcast. Let’s hope we hear from some send the notes to where we sending them

laura (27:26.852)

at news at cleveland.com

Chris (27:28.728)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Bouts across Northeast Ohio were loaded with local races. Way too many for us to go over here, but we do have some highlights to talk about. Did former Cleveland Councilman Jeff Johnson win his bid to be judged? Did Earl Turner keep his seat as Cleveland Clerk of Courts? Laura, what stood out?

laura (27:49.462)

Those two answers are yes. So Cleveland City Councilman Jeff Johnson will serve on the bench at Cleveland Municipal Court according to unofficial results. Danny Kelly kept his seat on city council. Earl Turner, longtime clerk of courts more than two decades and has had a little bit of scandal in his career, will stay on. He beat Councilman Casey in that race.

Lisa (27:50.006)

Two answers are yes. So, please let’s be confident, Jeff Johnson will serve on the bench and will be in municipal court. According to unofficial results, Danny Kelly kept his teeth on city council, Earl Turner, long time, for the courts, more than two decades, and has had some, a little bit of scandal in his career, will stay on, he breached each councilman, KV in that race, all sorts of suburban races, kind of a mixed bag for school taxes,

laura (28:16.234)

All sorts of suburban races, kind of a mixed bag for school taxes. Shaker, which, God bless the Shaker residents, they approve those taxes for schools. So this was a big one, but it overwhelmingly looks like it’s going to pass. All countywide, Tri-C was successful to increase and extend a tax that will generate $74 million for 10 years, prevent program cuts. Fairview Park finally passed a…

Lisa (28:20.66)

which, God bless the Shaker residents, they approved those taxes for schools. So this was a big one, but it overwhelmingly looks like it’s going to pass. Countywide, Tri-C was successful to increase and extend a tax that will generate $74 million for 10 years to prevent program cuts. Fairview Park finally passed a tax levy to fix up its Yemini Center, including a pool that has been closed for years. So congrats to them.

laura (28:42.254)

tax levy to fix up its Gemini Center, including a pool that has been closed for years. So congrats to them. And all sorts of school board races were contested, municipal court races. So a lot of things out in the communities that people really care and were campaigning hard for. When I passed the ballot or the precincts yesterday twice, they had the candidates were standing out there with their signs. So

A lot of stuff that you can check out. We have full results on cleveland.com slash election.

Chris (29:12.492)

It was amazing how angry and pitched the battle was over the sidewalks out in Pepper Pike, yeah.

laura (29:19.938)

Pepper Pike.

Lisa (29:20.294)

Mm-hmm. How did that turn out?

laura (29:24.034)

I don’t have the answer for that one. I have to come back to you.

Chris (29:26.516)

Oh, no, I was counting on you to have that one. That’s where I brought it up. All right. Well, onward, we’ll have to bring it up tomorrow. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Let’s do one last one. Halloween’s over, election day is over. Next up is Thanksgiving and it is coming way too fast. Courtney, when was the last time it was this early?

courtney (29:45.805)

Yeah, thanksgivings right around the corner. We weren’t wearing t-shirts not too many days ago. So it’s kind of odd, but Thanksgiving is going to come this year on November 23rd, and it’s been five years since we had that early of a holiday. Back in 2018, Thanksgiving fell on November 22nd, and that’s the very earliest a holiday can fall. So relatively, this year’s definitely on the earlier side of the spectrum.

Chris (30:13.241)

Yeah, I just it was it’s two weeks from tomorrow. Geez, man, where does the time go? I guess that means a much longer Christmas shopping season. So good for consumerism. That’s it for the post election podcast.

Lisa (30:15.27)

It’s two weeks from tomorrow, yes.

laura (30:28.67)

Oh, it looks like yes. I’m going to go with yes and Pepper Pike, according to the advisory election, Pepper Pike, the yeses passed. So that’s my understanding. I’ll correct it tomorrow on the podcast if I’m wrong.

Chris (30:36.944)

They’re gonna have sidewalks. Wow, how enlightened.

Lisa (30:40.839)

Absolutely.

Chris (30:42.652)

Okay, and that ends the post-election day podcast. Thanks, Laura. Thanks, Courtney. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks to everybody who listens and thanks to everybody who voted.