From Politico’s Joshua Zeitz, a Politico Magazine contributing writer and the author of Lincoln’s God: How Faith Transformed a President and a Nation:

Today, voters in Ohio will go to the polls to deliberate on a change to the state’s referendum law. Backed by prominent Republicans and their patrons in the business community — particularly, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce — the initiative would raise the bar required to secure amendments to the state constitution. Since 1912, when Ohio joined other states in adopting the referendum system, voters have been able to bypass the state Legislature and amend the constitution by a simple majority. The new measure would require 60 percent support.

It’s little mystery why Ohio Republicans snuck a late initiative onto the ballot, just months after the GOP-dominated Legislature passed a law banning August referenda at the local level, on the reasonable grounds that voter participation rates are lower during the dog days of summer.

Read more here.