Ohio voters reject ballot measure in victory for abortion rights advocates: GOP-led effort would have made it harder to change state constitution

Ohio voters overwhelmingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state constitution.

The results of Tuesday’s special election were a crucial victory for abortion rights advocates, who would have had the daunting prospect of winning a supermajority of voters this fall had the measure passed.

The proposal, known as Issue 1, would have raised the threshold for passing future amendments to the state constitution to 60 percent of voters, down from 50 percent, and would also impose stricter standards to put such measures on the ballot in the first place. to get. .

“I think it’s a question worth asking voters,” Ohio State Senate president Matt Huffman, a Republican who supported the ballot measure, told reporters after it became clear it wouldn’t happen. to succeed.

In a statement, Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens advised supporters to move past the results and instead focus on trying to defeat the November abortion rights measure, saying, “The people of Ohio have spoken. ‘

Deidra Reese, statewide program manager for the Ohio Unity Coalition opposition group, celebrates Issue 1’s defeat at a wait party Tuesday in Columbus

Dennis Willard, a spokesman for the One Person One Vote opposition campaign, called No. 1 a “deceptive power grab” designed to reduce the influence of the state’s voters.

“Tonight is a great victory for democracy in Ohio,” Willard told a cheering crowd at the opposition campaign watch party. “The majority still rules in Ohio.”

Praising Tuesday’s result, President Joe Biden released a statement saying, “This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode women’s freedom to make their own healthcare decisions. The people of Ohio spoke loud and clear, and democracy won tonight.”

With more than 1.2 million votes counted, 60 percent of Ohio residents voted no, compared to 40 percent who voted yes, according to Ohio’s secretary of state. That margin was enough for Decision Desk HQ and the Associated Press to call out the race.

The election was the latest nationwide battle over abortion, more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a nationwide right to the procedure.

Advocates on both sides of the abortion issue spent millions of dollars ahead of Tuesday’s vote.

Ballot initiatives have become powerful tools for abortion rights activists in states where abortion opponents, usually Republicans, control legislatures or hold the office of governor.

Voters in Kansas and Kentucky, both highly conservative states, rejected ballots last year that would have declared their state constitutions not protecting the right to abortion.

Lawrence County residents line up to vote at Fairland High School in Proctorville, Ohio. Ohio voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure designed to stave off a November referendum to enshrine access to abortion into state law

Voters come and go on Tuesday at the Beachwood Community Center in Beachwood, Ohio, to vote for No. 1 in the special election

Voters receive their ballets as Lawrence County residents head to the polls to vote on Ohio Issue 1 in a special election Tuesday with one issue

On Tuesday, abortion rights groups in Arizona, a key presidential swing state, made an effort to put the issue before voters in November 2024.

Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine signed a six-week abortion ban in 2019, which took effect after the Supreme Court decision.

The ban was suspended in September after a legal challenge from abortion clinics; the Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to decide the case.

Some groups opposed to Tuesday’s ballot issue had stressed that the referendum went beyond abortion, arguing that curbing citizens’ power is simply undemocratic.

‘This is much bigger than one problem; it’s much bigger than one party or one election,” said Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. “This is about a freedom Ohioans have had for over a century.”

For example, good government groups are working on a 2024 ballot that would change the constitution to prevent gerrymandering, the process by which a party manipulates district lines to entrench power. If Tuesday’s referendum had passed, it would be much more challenging to get that issue on the ballot.

Last year Ohio’s Republicans drew sharply partisan legislative and congressional maps of the state and defied court orders to renew them; November’s elections were held with cards found to be unconstitutional.

Dennis Willard, a spokesman for the One Person One Vote opposition campaign, called No. 1 a “deceptive power grab” designed to reduce the influence of the state’s voters.

Stephanie Mattoni casts her vote on Issue 1 in Perrysburg, Ohio, on Tuesday

An election board volunteer waits to hand out “Ohio Voted” stickers to voters after they cast their ballots at an Ohio special election in Montville Township, Ohio on Tuesday

Opponents of abortion rights called the November referendum extreme, claiming that its vague language would allow minors to have abortions and gender reassignment surgeries without parental consent.

Supporters note that the amendment makes no mention of gender-affirming treatment or parental consent.

Tuesday’s election generated millions in external spending, including from so-called “dark-money” groups that are not required to disclose their donors.

Illinois Republican mega-donor Richard Uihlein donated at least $4 million to the pro-Issue 1 campaign, according to campaign documents.

Other groups that supported Tuesday’s referendum raised money from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and The Concord Fund, a black money conservative group.

The anti-Issue 1 side received support from the Tides Foundation, a California-based social justice organization, and the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a liberal black money group.