Politicians Must Earn Your Vote. Members Must Have a Voice.
Ohio Common Ground is building something that does not currently exist in Ohio: a secure, statewide digital platform that allows members to directly participate in the governance, priorities, and activities of the organization.
Most Ohioans have little meaningful influence over public policy between elections. Citizens are often asked to donate, volunteer, sign petitions, or attend rallies—but rarely are they given a direct role in deciding what an organization should do. OCG intends to change that.
The Digital Democracy Platform is designed to give members a practical way to participate in organizational decisions regardless of where they live, how much time they have available, or whether they have connections to political insiders.
Our platform ensures that members have a direct say in the foundational decisions, leadership, and policy direction of Ohio Common Ground.
Each year, members help identify and rank the issues OCG should focus on. Potential examples include property taxes, cost of living, housing affordability, government accountability, regulatory reform, election integrity, education, infrastructure, and government spending.
Members will elect designated Board positions as outlined in OCG's governing documents. This creates direct accountability between leadership and membership.
Members will help select county chapter leadership and local representatives, ensuring that grassroots voices are represented at every level of the organization.
Members will have the ability to vote on major governance changes, keeping the organization's rules aligned with member values.
Foundational organizational principles should not be altered without member approval, protecting our core mission and democratic structure.
Members may propose initiatives and reforms through established petition processes. If sufficient support is demonstrated, proposals can advance for formal consideration and voting.
Important organizational decisions and resolutions may also be submitted directly to Ohio Common Ground members for voting.
The Digital Democracy Platform is designed to become the operating system for citizen participation within OCG, offering multiple avenues for engagement.
Members can help identify emerging concerns before they become statewide political issues. Through regular surveys and polling, members will have opportunities to provide feedback on issues, priorities, legislation, and organizational activities.
Members can help shape candidate questionnaires, issue scorecards, legislative tracking, and accountability metrics to ensure that elected officials remain answerable to the public.
Members may receive opportunities to contact elected officials, submit testimony, participate in hearings, respond to action alerts, and engage in coordinated advocacy efforts.
Members can connect with local chapter activities and leadership opportunities, bridging the gap between digital participation and local grassroots action.
Trust must be earned. The integrity of member voting is fundamental to the credibility of the organization.
Whenever practical, OCG will publish voting procedures, election schedules, eligibility requirements, participation rates, results summaries, governance rules, and methodologies. Members deserve to know how decisions are made.
OCG is currently evaluating specialized voting and member participation systems capable of supporting a statewide membership organization. Two platforms currently receiving serious consideration include:
ElectionBuddy is used by nonprofit organizations, associations, unions, cooperatives, and membership organizations throughout North America.
Key Capabilities:
OpaVote is a widely used online election platform serving nonprofits, associations, clubs, and civic organizations.
Key Capabilities:
Selection Criteria: The final selection will be based on security, reliability, auditability, transparency, ease of member use, cost effectiveness, and scalability. No final vendor decision has been made.
The Digital Democracy Platform is not simply an online voting system. It is intended to become the foundation of a new model of citizen participation—a place where members can learn, discuss, prioritize, organize, vote, and act, all within a single integrated platform.
Most organizations ask members to trust leaders. Ohio Common Ground intends to build an organization where leaders must continually earn the trust of members.
Most organizations ask citizens to support decisions made by others. Ohio Common Ground intends to give citizens a meaningful role in making those decisions themselves.
Because if politicians should answer to voters, organizations that represent voters should answer to their members.
Building a Stronger Voice for Ohio Voters