Ohio papers consider election reform package

Newspapers in Youngstown and Akron back Issue 1.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
The Columbus Dispatch asked readers Sunday to vote against a package of four election reform proposals, while The (Toledo) Blade endorsed three of the measures.
Issue 2 on the Nov. 8 ballot would allow voters to request an absentee ballot for any reason. Issue 3 would reduce the cap on individual campaign contributions from $10,000 to $2,000 for a statewide candidate and $1,000 for a legislative candidate.
Issue 4 would take redistricting powers away from state legislators and turn them over to a commission. Issue 5 would shift oversight of elections from the secretary of state to a bipartisan, nine-member board.
"The biggest flaw is that they seek to write highly detailed, prescriptive language and untested policy into the Ohio Constitution. Once there, fixing any deficiencies would require another statewide vote," The Columbus Dispatch wrote.
Issues 3-5 "represent a great opportunity to fix what ails Ohio's overtly political election system," The Blade wrote, adding that Issue 4 "would end an evil system that perpetuates one-party domination."
The Toledo newspaper previously has recommended voting against Issue 2.
Vindicator backs Issue 1
Also Sunday, the Dayton Daily News endorsed Issue 4, and The Vindicator and the Akron Beacon Journal both backed Issue 1, a jobs and construction bonds measure that includes funding for Gov. Bob Taft's Third Frontier development initiative.
The Vindicator said defeat of the issue "would undermine Ohio's ability to compete with high-technology jobs and hold its own in the global economy."
The Akron newspaper noted that publicly funded projects have helped the city recover from the near-demise of the rubber industry. "To ignore that lesson now would be a huge mistake," the Beacon Journal wrote.