“If we saw this in another country …” Maybe you’ve noticed. The U-S-A chanters bedecked in red, white and blue? The “we’re a republic, not a democracy” crowd? Those Real Americans™ with pocket Constitutions who, like the hypocrites Jesus warned about, make a public show of their political piety? They’re not really into the whole “consent of the governed” thing in the Declaration of Independence. You’re hardly shocked. Neither is David Pepper, the former Ohio Democratic Party chair. Right now in Ohio, Republicans firmly in control of the mechanisms of state governance are racing to hold a special election in August to pass a constitutional amendment that heads off a citizen-led ballot initiative in November. With it they hope to use a low-turnout August election to raise the threshold for passing a constitutional amendment in Ohio from 50% to 60%. The 50% threshold has been in place for 100 years, say critics. The citizen initiative would place an abortion rights guarantee in the state constitution. Revanchists cannot have that, so they want to raise the bar for passage ahead of November. That’s not only bad form, says Pepper, an August special election is illegal. Legal experts agree. The General Assembly voted in December to ban August special elections. They are not only costly but interfere with preparation of ballots for the fall elections which go the printer in August. Democracy Docket reports that on Tuesday “a group of Ohio voters and the group One Person One Vote filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme…