Ohio voters have overwhelmingly rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have made it more difficult to change the state’s constitution, an initiative aimed at stymieing a November referendum to enshrine access to abortion into state law .
The results of Tuesday’s special election were a crucial victory for pro-choice supporters, who would have faced the daunting prospect of securing a supermajority of voters in the fall after the measure passed.
The proposal, known as “Theme 1,” would have raised the electoral threshold for passing future amendments to the state constitution from 50 percent to 60 percent, and also introduced stricter standards for such measures even being on the ballot.
“I think it’s a question worth asking voters,” Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Republican who supported the ballot measure, told reporters after it became clear that she would not be accepted.
In a statement, Republican House Speaker Jason Stephens advised his supporters to get over the findings and instead focus on trying to thwart November’s abortion legislation measure, saying, “The people of Ohio have spoken.”
“I think it’s a question worth asking voters,” said Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, a Republican who championed the ballot measure after Issue 1 failed
Deidra Reese, statewide program manager for opposition group Ohio Unity Coalition, celebrates the defeat of Issue 1 during a watch party Tuesday in Columbus
Dennis Willard, a spokesman for the opposition campaign One Person One Vote, called Issue 1 a “deceptive power grab” aimed at reducing 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 party. “The majority still rule in Ohio.”
President Joe Biden welcomed Tuesday’s result, releasing a statement that said, “This measure was an apparent attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further undermine women’s freedom to make their own health decisions.” Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won.”
With more than 1.2 million votes tallied, 60 percent of Ohioans voted “no,” compared to 40 percent who voted “yes,” according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. That lead was enough for Decision Desk HQ and the Associated Press to decide the race.
The election was the latest nationwide abortion fight, more than a year after the US Supreme Court scrapped a nationwide abortion law.
Advocacy groups on both sides of the abortion issue spent millions of dollars ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
In states where anti-abortion activists, usually Republicans, control the legislature or hold the office of governor, ballot initiatives have become powerful tools for abortion rights activists.
Voters in Kansas and Kentucky, both hard-line conservative states, rejected voting measures last year that said their state constitutions do not protect abortion rights.
Lawrence County residents line the halls to vote at Fairland High School in Proctorville, Ohio. Voters in Ohio on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure aimed at blocking a November referendum on making abortion access state law
Voters come and go Tuesday at the Beachwood Community Center in Beachwood, Ohio to vote on Issue 1 during the special election
Voters get their ballets as Lawrence County residents head to the polling stations to vote on Ohio Issue 1 during a special election Tuesday
On Tuesday, abortion rights groups in Arizona, a key state that hosts the presidential election, launched an attempt to bring the issue to voters in November 2024.
Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a six-week abortion ban in 2019, which went into effect after the Supreme Court’s decision.
The ban was shelved in September after a legal challenge by abortion clinics; The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to rule on the case.
Some groups opposed to the ballot on Tuesday had stressed that the referendum went beyond abortion, arguing it was simply undemocratic to limit citizens’ power.
“This is much bigger than a problem; It’s much bigger than a party or an election,” said Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. “This is about a freedom that Ohioans have enjoyed for more than a century.”
Good government groups, for example, are working on a 2024 ballot that would change the constitution to prevent gerrymandering, the process by which a party manipulates county lines to consolidate power. If Tuesday’s referendum had been successful, it would have been far more difficult to get this issue on the ballot.
Last year Ohio Republicans drafted fiercely partisan legislative and congressional plans for the state, defying court orders to overhaul them. The November elections used maps that had been declared unconstitutional.
Dennis Willard, a spokesman for the opposition campaign One Person One Vote, called Issue 1 a “deceptive power grab” aimed at reducing the influence of the state’s voters
Stephanie Mattoni casts her vote for Issue 1 on Tuesday in Perrysburg, Ohio
A volunteer Elections Officer waits to distribute “Ohio Voted” stickers to voters after they cast their ballots in an Ohio special election in Montville Township, Ohio on Tuesday
Opponents of abortion rights called November’s referendum extreme, claiming its vague wording would allow minors to have abortions and gender-confirming surgeries without parental consent.
Proponents point out that the amendment makes no mention of gender-affirming treatment or parental consent.
Tuesday’s election attracted millions in outside donations, including from so-called “dark money” groups, which are not required to disclose their donors.
According to campaign records, Richard Uihlein, a Republican major donor from Illinois, donated at least $4 million to the Pro Issue 1 campaign.
Other groups supporting Tuesday’s referendum raised funds from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and The Concord Fund, a conservative dark money 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 dark money group.