Issues 1, 2 do well in state survey

Issues 4 and 5 don't have majority support in the poll.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- Issue 1, the $2 billion "Jobs for Ohio" bond issue, and Issue 2, the early voting initiative, appear likely to pass Nov. 8, according to a new statewide poll.
Support for Issue 3, a campaign finance measure, appears fairly solid while results for Issues 4 and 5 appear less certain, the poll, conducted by the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron, showed.
Issue 1, which also features $500 million in bond funding for Gov. Bob Taft's Third Frontier Project to stimulate high-tech research in Ohio, is supported by 66.6 percent of likely voters polled.
Issue 2, which would allow no-fault absentee voting, is supported by 64 percent of those polled by the institute.
"It looks like Issue 1 is likely to pass," said John Green, Bliss Institute director. On Issue 2, Green said, "Those who know about it, like it."
The institute polled 1,076 registered voters in telephone surveys between Sept. 28 and Oct. 20. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.
The poll finds Issue 3 ahead with those polled with 59 percent support. Support for Issue 3 among likely voters is at 61.2 percent, according to poll findings.
Not as strong
Issue 4, which proposes a new legislative and congressional redistricting commission, and Issue 5, a proposed new state elections board, has support from 39.6 percent and 42.1 percent of those questioned, respectively, according to poll results.
Along with funding for the Third Frontier, the Issue 1 bond package -- essentially a loan to be taken out through the sale of bonds -- includes a $1.35 billion bond issue for local road and water projects and a $150 million bond issue for industrial parks and other business-site development.
The Legislature, in a bipartisan fashion, voted earlier this year to place it before voters this fall.
Proposed amendments
Reform Ohio Now, a group that has ties to organized labor and other groups, placed the following constitutional amendments on the ballot:
UIssue 2: Allow Ohio voters to vote early without specifying a reason.
UIssue 3: Reduce individual campaign-contribution limits to $1,000 for a state legislative candidate and $2,000 for a statewide candidate.
UIssue 4: Create a five-member commission to draw what Renew Ohio Now said would be competitive state and congressional districts.
UIssue 5: Give the secretary of state's elections duties to a nine-member state panel to oversee Ohio's voting system.
Keary McCarthy, a Reform Ohio Now spokesman, said amendment backers will be ratcheting up their campaign leading up to Election Day.
In addition to paid television advertising, McCarthy said, more than 12,000 volunteers will fan out throughout the state to contact voters and distribute literature.
"It's just a matter of us communicating the advantages to these proposed reforms and making sure voters are aware," McCarthy said.
Making their case
Reform Ohio Now backers aren't concerned that the new poll finds Issues 4 and 5 trailing in support.
"When you explain to people that politicians draw their own districts, people really understand that and agree that it needs to be reformed," McCarthy said.
On the proposed elections board, McCarthy said, "If you can convey a message that bipartisanship is better than partisanship, you'll be successful."
David Hopcraft, a spokesman for Ohio First, a group affiliated primarily with Republicans that opposes the proposed amendments, said he wasn't surprised at the poll results.
Hopcraft said the poll was conducted before Ohio First's campaign ramped up.
"We've had an aggressive television campaign the last 10 days," Hopcraft said. "I feel good about getting our message out."
Ohio First says the proposed Reform Ohio Now amendments would make politicians less accountable, open the door to voter fraud, put more power in the hands of special interest groups and possibly give out-of-state millionaires the ability to spend their personal fortunes to influence Ohio's elections.