HIGHLAND COUNTY, Ohio—Ohioans voted on Aug. 8 to reject stricter requirements for citizen-initiated amendments to the state’s constitution in a move that could bode well for activists’ efforts to codify abortion rights later this year.
With reporting from all precincts and an outstanding 58,000 ballots, the “no” vote won 57.01 percent to the “yes” vote’s 42.99 percent.
The question put to voters in Tuesday’s special election was whether they supported increasing the threshold for passing citizen-led amendments to the Ohio Constitution from a simple majority to 60 percent of voters.
A “yes” vote on Issue 1 also indicated support for requiring petitioners to gather signatures from all 88 counties—up from the current standard of 44—and nixing the 10-day cure period allowing the collection of additional signatures if a petition is found to have initially missed the mark.
But what drove many voters to the polls—in much higher numbers than expected—was the knowledge that the amendment could make or break another ballot initiative to enshrine a right to abortion in the state’s constitution. That proposed amendment is set to appear on Ohioans’ ballots in November.
And with Issue 1’s failure Tuesday, another victory may be on the horizon for pro-abortion activists.
Political Campaigns
In the lead-up to Election Day, campaigns both for and against Issue 1 argued that the measure would cede power to out-of-state interest groups.
While Republicans promoted the amendment as a safeguard to prevent outside groups from influencing the Ohio Constitution, Democrats charged that the measure itself was being pushed by outside extremists aiming to thwart the will of the voters on the proposed abortion amendment.
Specifically, the measure on the November ballot asserts a right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.”
Currently, abortion is legal in Ohio through 22 weeks of pregnancy as enforcement of a six-week limit on the procedure—passed in 2019—has been halted by legal challenges.
In July, a USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that 58 percent of likely Ohio voters supported the abortion amendment—a majority, but 2 percent shy of the Issue 1 threshold.
By Samantha Flom and Jeff Louderback
