Ohioans pave the way for a brighter future

At last some positive news for Ohio, which is bracing for huge job losses at Delphi Corp.'s plants in the state and must come to terms with the uncertain future of the automotive industry and the overall loss of high-paying manufacturing jobs. Tuesday night, by a 54-46 percent vote, Ohioans said "yes" to State Issue 1 that will provide money for roads and bridges and, more significantly, make available grants for high-technology research.
As we said in an editorial Oct. 30, the defeat of the issue "would undermine Ohio's ability to compete for the high-tech jobs and hold its own in the global economy." There is no doubt that coupling Gov. Bob Taft's Third Frontier initiative with the road and bridge repair program that cities, townships and villages around the state have come to depend on was an astute political move. Remember that the Third Frontier initiative was rejected by the voters when it appeared on the statewide ballot in 2003. Then, it was Gov. Taft who led the campaign, and his political negatives undoubtedly were a factor in the issue's defeat.
This year, the face of the campaign was former U.S. Sen. John Glenn, a genuine national hero, and proponents included the Ohio AFL-CIO and other labor groups, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Manufacturers' Association.
Passage of Issue 1 will enable the state to borrow $2 billion through the sale of bonds. Of that amount, $1.5 billion will go toward bridge and road repairs and cleaning up old industrial sites, while the rest will be invested in research in areas such as the biomedical industry. The slogan of the campaign, "Jobs for Ohio," obviously struck a responsive chord with the voters.
"People decided they wanted to invest in their own future," said Lt. Gov. Bruce Johnson, who also serves as the state's development director.
Unfortunately, Ohioans did not see the need to invest in their political future. The defeat of two other statewide issues that we endorsed, 2 and 4 on the ballot, is a shame because they would have resulted in good government.
Absentee ballots
Issue 2 would have offered early voting by mail or in person to every registered voter 35 days before an election. Currently, an individual requesting an absentee ballot must provide a reason that is acceptable to the board of elections. However, elections officials do not regularly check to determine whether the voter has a legitimate excuse. We believed that a constitutional amendment to open up the early voting procedure to everyone would discourage dishonesty in elections. We regret that the voters did not recognize the issue's positive aspects.
On Issue 4, Ohioans had an opportunity to remove partisan politics from the creation of legislative and congressional districts, but opted for the status quo. That is unfortunate. Currently, a board of elected state officials draws legislative districts and the Ohio General Assembly draws congressional districts. The boundaries are set after the results of the 10-year population census are adopted.
Had Issue 4 passed, an independent commission led by a judge would have taken over the responsibility of drawing the lines in keeping with federal, state and court mandates involving such things as racial composition.
But all is not lost. State Rep. Kevin DeWine, a Republican from a suburb of Dayton, who led the charge against those two issues and two others that The Vindicator did not endorse, conceded Tuesday night that the way the state draws district lines needs to be improved.
We urge DeWine to keep the issue on the front burner and to conduct public hearings so proponents and opponents can have an open exchange of ideas.