Ohio voters reject changes to ballot process in a win for abortion rights
Voters in Ohio rejected a GOP-led attempt to make amending the state Constitution more difficult on Tuesday.
62 percent voted against the issue 1 when the Associated Press declared the election after 36 percent had been cast.
It would have made it harder to present citizen-initiated measures on ballots to voters. Both sides attracted national attention and millions in funding during the run-up to a special summer election that was supposed to be under the radar.
Dennis Willard, spokesperson for One Person One Vote (the main group opposed to Issue 1), said in a press release that “Voters recognized Issue 1 as what it really was: a deceptive attempt to suppress their voices and reduce their voting power.” “We defeated Issue 1, because an immense coalition that crosses ideological divides came to defend democracy,” said Dennis Willard, spokesperson for One Person One Vote, the main group opposing Issue 1.
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Spencer Gross, spokesperson of Protect Our Constitution (the group that supports Issue 1), said in a press release that the coalition was “looking forward to working on policy with the General Assembly for the betterment for all Ohioans in a way that honors and respected the legislative process – not circumvents” it.
The Buckeye State’s historically low voter turnout in August was far exceeded by the early voting of more than 600,000. The GOP-controlled state legislators pushed to raise the threshold as abortion rights activists fought for a separate November ballot initiative that would have enshrined abortion rights into the state constitution.
The November election is fast approaching, and the election has become a proxy battle over abortion rights. However, proponents for Issue 1 insist that the issue is not only about abortion but also protecting the state Constitution against special interests.
In Wisconsin and other states, abortion rights were a hot topic in the past year. Raising the bar would’ve created a new obstacle for the Ohio ballot measure this fall. It is unclear whether it will pass the 60 percent threshold.
The opponents of Issue 1 were buoyed by the national success from last year and a cash edge heading into the elections. According to state filings, One Person One Vote has raised $14.8m, while Protect Our Constitution has raised $4.9m.
Julie Chavez Rodriguez said, “The resounding defeat of Amendment 1 is a victory in democracy and a blow for special interests who wanted to limit Ohioans’ power at the polling booth,” in a first-shared statement with POLITICO. It speaks volumes that Ohioans turned out in August, an off-year election, and that their vote will ensure that the power of the people is not diminished in future elections, such as a crucial referendum on whether or not women in Ohio have the freedom to decide their own health care.
Protect Women Ohio, a coalition that opposed the abortion rights measure and also backed Issue 1, stated in a press release that the election results on Tuesday “proved exactly why Ohio’s constitution deserves and needs additional protections.” They also vowed to defeat the ACLU by November.
The Republicans have suffered a string of defeats in recent years as they tried to make it harder to get a ballot measure to voters. In recent years, GOP legislators in Arkansas Florida Idaho Missouri North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma and Oklahoma have debated similar bills. Some of the bills that were passed into law have been overturned by courts.
Sarah Walker, director of policy and legal advocacy for the progressive Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, said: “Post-2020 there was such a lot of interest in voting access efforts. I think that it was a mistake to not include the attacks against the ballot initiative process which were already underway in this conversation.” This is the first instance that I have seen an effort to link these two things. It’s ultimately about removing the checks and balances that limit legislative power.
