Effective April 7, August special elections in Ohio were mostly eliminated, according to House Bill 458. But Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose says that new law doesn’t count if legislators really want to set an election.

“No, I’m not arguing that 458 was unconstitutional, but it didn’t apply to the circumstance (of the one set for this Aug. 8),” LaRose told Statehouse News Bureau last month. “458 was a smart piece of legislation …

“That’s good public policy.”

In approving HB 458, lawmakers agreed August special elections were too expensive to justify the often low-turnout elections that were not representative of the will of all Ohioans. Then special interest groups got involved, urging an August election to make a major change to Ohio’s constitution while no one was looking.

Those special interest groups could not have been more transparent in their reason for wanting to erase the 50% plus 1 requirement for amending our state constitution, which has been in place since 1912.

They were worried about a potential upcoming proposed amendment. Perhaps they were even worried 50% plus 1 Ohio voters might support that amendment.

And so, they urged lawmakers to go back on their decision, and hold an August special election (one in which the 50% plus 1 still applies) to make it harder to make FUTURE changes to the state constitution. They want this one to be easy.

It shouldn’t be. In fact, thoughtful Ohioans — even those who believe one day it may be necessary to make it more difficult to alter our state constitution — know now is not the time.

Now, when the political motive is so transparent and the timing of the special election so questionable, is not the time to alter a relationship with our constitution that has been in place for Ohioans for more than a century.

Despite twisted and misleading political ads designed to obscure the true impact of Ohio’s Issue 1, Buckeye State residents must understand their vote against it will not imply support for ANY future amendment.

Instead, educated voters know this vote is about one thing: significantly raising the standard — making it harder — to alter the state constitution.

Given the political manipulation and glaringly obvious attempt to pull a fast one on Ohio voters, now is not the time to enact such a monumental change.

Revisit the matter latter when cooler heads can prevail, perhaps. But for now, vote no on Issue 1.