COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohioans struck down a controversial ballot proposal to take away simple majority rule in Tuesday’s special election. The failure of Issue 1 is a boon for abortion rights supporters who will put their own measure on the ballot in November.
With all of the votes counted, Vote No had an overwhelming 57% majority of the vote compared to 43% for Vote Yes, according to unofficial results. The Associated Press's election trackers called the race for Vote No at about 8:53 p.m.
News 5 has ongoing live coverage with Statehouse/Columbus bureau reporter Morgan Trau, who has been covering this proposal since its first introduction nearly a year ago.
View our updates from Election Day on our live blog here.
Why it matters
Issue 1 would have raised the threshold for constitutional amendments to pass from 50%+1, a simple majority, to 60%. This means that 40% of Ohioans would have gotten to choose the law. Supporters sought its passage to thwart the forthcoming abortion rights vote.
RELATED: Ohio Sec. of State LaRose admits move to make constitution harder to amend is ‘100% about… abortion’
Ohio voters will decide in November if they have a constitutional right to have an abortion, contraception, miscarriage care and fertility treatment. Raising the threshold that a constitutional amendment needs to pass to 60% would have made it more difficult to pass.
What’s next
The fight continues for and against the November abortion vote. Each state that has put up a vote on abortion rights has kept the healthcare treatment or procedure legal.
Percentage abortion was protected in other states:
- Kentucky — 52.3%
- Montana — 52.5%
- Michigan — 56.6%
- Kansas — 59%
- California — 66%
- Vermont — 76.7%
Lawmakers supporting Issue 1 have said that if the proposal was shot down in the election, they wouldn’t move it forward again.
More than abortion
The reason why vote no had Democratic, Republican, third-party and nonpartisan support is because this issue is bigger than just the impact to abortion.
There are efforts afoot to raise the minimum wage, as well as redistricting reform to prevent gerrymandering, also in the works. Municipal bonds will have a harder time getting passed. Union rights, pension funding and “medical freedom” proposals have garnered a group of people some would never expect to come together.
With the failure of Issue 1, these amendments will continue to need just a simple majority of Ohio voters to pass.
Politicians and organizations react
- President Joe Biden
Today, Ohio voters rejected an effort by Republican lawmakers and special interests to change the state’s constitutional amendment process.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 9, 2023
This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care…
- Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb
“Over the past months, we built a movement across party lines and geography to protect our constitution and majority rule. This coalition proved that politicians can’t out-smart the people of Ohio, and when we organize, we win. Leadership matters and that’s why I used every tool at my disposal to ensure the defeat of this anti-democratic issue, from simply knocking on doors to contributing to putting a ‘vote no’ message in mailboxes across Cuyahoga County. Tonight, we sent a strong message. Ohio doesn’t back down from a fight. When you come for our rights, we turn out in force. We will carry that same energy and momentum into protecting reproductive rights this Fall and into the battle for our democracy in 2024. There is no off year when our freedoms are on the line. I won’t give up this fight, and with the results tonight, I know Ohio is with me," Bibb said. - Senator Sherrod Brown
“Ohioans saw this amendment for what it was: a power grab by powerful people designed to silence their voices. By rejecting State Issue 1, Ohioans rejected special interests and demanded that democracy remain where it belongs – in the hands of voters, not the rich and powerful. That is what has always guided me, and I am proud to stand with Ohioans in this fight.” - State Senator Bill DeMora
“Ohioans are smarter than Secretary LaRose and Republican leaders think,” DeMora said. “Issue 1 would have ensured that the state legislature would keep their illegal supermajorities and no one could ever stop their cruel policies. Extremist Republicans know their ideas aren’t shared by most Ohioans, so they tried to change the rules of the game,” DeMora said. - U.S. Rep Emilia Sykes
"Ohioans sent a clear message tonight that they won’t allow Republicans to rig our democracy. Whether it’s reproductive rights, voting rights or labor rights, these freedoms should not be subject to the whims of out-of-touch politicians. Tonight we celebrate, but the fight continues in November," Sykes said. - Ohio Education Association
“This all started last November with a bad idea from some special interests and politicians in Columbus, but something great came out of it. More than 200 organizations brought together tens of thousands of volunteers and over a million voters to say NO WAY are we letting Issue 1 pass,” Ohio Education Association President Scott DiMauro said during a gathering with other member organizations in the One Person One Vote coalition Tuesday night. “You did it. We did it. Ohio did it. And now, we will continue to stand together because we’re only getting started.
“As we experience continuing legislative attacks, ongoing battles to secure constitutional public-school funding, teacher recruitment and retention challenges, local school board takeovers, the expansion of unaccountable private school vouchers, and difficult learning and working conditions, OEA is fighting for the respect and dignity of its members, and for supports and resources for all public schools, because Public Education Matters. With a united voice, we will continue to stand up to the attacks from extremist politicians and their well-funded out-of-state backers who are using fear to divide our communities based on race, place, and gender identities and are working to break the public’s trust in Ohio’s public schools. Issue 1 would have made our work much harder to do.” - North Shore AFL-CIO
“Tonight’s victory comes as no surprise. Ohioans saw Issue 1 for what it was, an unprecedented and bold attempt to silence our voice and reduce the power of our vote. Tonight, we send a powerful and clear message to the extremists in Columbus that we won’t back down,” said Leonard DiCosimo, North Shore AFL-CIO executive secretary. - Protect Women Ohio
"Tonight’s election results prove exactly why Ohio’s constitution needs and deserves additional protections: liberal dark money groups funded by a Swiss billionaire swooped in during the eleventh hour and blanketed Ohio with deceptive ads. But now they will face millions of emboldened Ohioans who refuse to stand by while the ACLU targets parental rights, pushes for abortion-on-demand through all nine months, and goes after commonsense health and safety protections for women. Our pro-life, pro-parent coalition is more motivated than ever -- Ohio will never cancel parents’ rights or allow for painful late-term abortion up until birth, and together we will defeat the ACLU in November." - Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman
"This was a fight worth having, and tonight we sent a message that we were close and will continue efforts to protect the Ohio Constitution from wealthy out-of-state special interests. This was a heavy lift, and we needed "all hands on deck," which, disappointingly, we didn’t have. The opposition had twice the money coming from NY, CA and D.C., and a head start. We really needed to turn out our base and needed more help doing that from current and former elected officials. Make no mistake, standing on the side of wealthy California special interests will only make our state vulnerable to these continued far-left attacks," Huffman said. - Committee to Protect Health Care
“This is a resounding victory for voters’ rights and for women’s health in Ohio. Voters have chosen to preserve their right to amend the constitution with majority rule and to have a say later this year on reproductive freedom. Like Ohio voters, physicians overwhelmingly agree that women should be able to make their own decisions about pregnancy, contraception and abortion. The anti-abortion lawmakers who pushed Issue 1 should stop trying to take away the rights of women and all Ohio voters. This is a wake-up call to show up in November. I encourage my fellow physicians to speak out and let their patients know what’s at stake,” said Dr. Anita Somani, an OBGYN in Columbus. - Innovation Ohio
“The voters have spoken,” said President/CEO of Innovation Ohio Desiree Tims. “Since the introduction of this legislation nine months ago, our coalition has grown and stood in lockstep against this blatant power grab. Corrupt politicians and lobbyists tried to pull a fast-one on Ohio, but as we expected, voters did not stand for it. Instead, corrupt politicians should start to listen to their constituents and not out-of-state special interests.” - Secretary of State Frank LaRose
“I’m grateful that nearly 1.3 million Ohioans stood with us in this fight, but this is only one battle in a long war. Unfortunately, we were dramatically outspent by dark money billionaires from California to New York, and the giant ‘for sale’ sign still hangs on Ohio’s constitution. Ohioans will see the devastating impact of this vote soon enough. The radical activists that opposed Issue 1 are already planning amendments to shut parents out of a child’s life-altering medical procedure, force job-killing wage mandates on small businesses, prevent law-abiding citizens from protecting their families and remove critical protections for our first responders. I’ve said for months now that there’s an assault coming on our constitution, and that hasn’t changed. I’m just getting started in the fight to protect Ohio’s values.” Ohio Right To Life
“Out-of-state dark money special interest groups, including a Swiss billionaire, just spent millions of dollars in Ohio to deceive voters into not passing Issue 1.” said Peter Range, Ohio Right to Life’s Chief Executive Officer.Range says the organization’s mission remains unchanged. “Nonetheless, this result will not deter us from continuing to fight the ACLU’s extreme agenda this November, which seeks to allow abortion up until birth and take away parents’ rights to protect their child from being pressured into an abortion or even a sex-change operation."
"We in the pro-life movement have the privilege of living to fight another day," he added. "Thus, today, we rise to honor God, and the dignity of all human life, by continuing the fight to defend the innocent."
Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on Twitter and Facebook.
