If passed, Issue 1 would have created more rigid requirements for citizens aiming to make changes to the Ohio Constitution. (Submitted photo)
Ohio Special Election Results | Issue 1 defeated
- Published: August 9, 2023
Issue 1 was struck down by voters in a special election held Tuesday, Aug. 8. The controversial initiative, if passed, would have created more rigid requirements for citizens aiming to make changes to the Ohio Constitution.
According to unofficial election results posted on the website of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose Wednesday morning, Aug. 9, the ballot initiative was defeated 1,744,094 votes (57.01%) to 1,315,346 (42.99%) votes, with all 8,885 Ohio precincts reporting; 58,073 absentee and provisional ballots remained outstanding at press time. About 38.5% of Ohio’s registered voters weighed in on Issue 1.
The initiative also failed in Greene County, though by a slimmer margin: According to unofficial results posted by the Greene County Board of Elections late Tuesday night, 42.85% of Greene County voters came out for the special election, and the measure was defeated 25,634 (50.5%) votes to 25,174 (49.5%) — a difference of 460 votes.
Individual precinct results were not available at press time.
Issue 1 aimed to require that any future initiative proposal be signed by 5% of voters in all of Ohio’s 88 counties, rather than the current requirement of 44 counties. It would also have raised the percentage of necessary votes to adopt an amendment at the ballot from a simple majority to 60%.
An initiative backed by Republican lawmakers, Issue 1 was an effort to forestall an upcoming Nov. 7 ballot initiative submitted by Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom that, if passed, will protect abortion rights in the state. According to a 2022 poll conducted by AP VoteCast, about 59% of Ohio voters support legal access to abortion.
In June, Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Issue 1 was “100% about keeping a radical pro-abortion amendment out of our constitution.” In a statement late Tuesday night, LaRose blamed the initiative’s failure on the influence of “dark money billionaires from California to New York.”
3 Responses to “Ohio Special Election Results | Issue 1 defeated”
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Another person I’ve found exceptional at covering Ohio politics (read Ohio’s depravity) is The Rooster. https://rooster.substack.com/
Do yourself a favor and check him out His name is DJ Byrnes and he is a private citizen who confronts these politicians directly (balls of steel) and makes the worms squirm and them run like bugs.
He’s on twitter or whatever it is now, TikTok, etc. He deserves more credit for all he does to expose the people behind the madness.
I was taught that our country was founded on the principle of winning an election by getting at least 50% + 1 of the votes cast. Elections that require super majorities are the opposite of a democracy to me. I don’t care if we are voting to change the federal or state constition, 50% + 1 should determine the outcome.
I wish to respond to the statement by Frak LaRose inwhich he stated that the failure of the Issue 1 Ballot placed by the Ohio legislature was due to dark money from out of state. I and my sister in lae contributed 100 post cards from California. We are not millionaires and we are not dark money. I grew up in Ohio and have great bond to the state. The action by the republican controlled Ohio legislature was devious and dishonest, especially when one reviews all apect of the ballot…88 county requirement rather than 44 counties, no opportunity to correct signature corrections, and therefore complete obstruction of a citizen lead initiative. This ballot driven by the Ohio legislature was not an examole of democracy…a government by the people for the people.
Paul Palmatier DVM Santa Rosa, California born in Berea, Ohio, graduated from Medina Ohio (high school), spent summers in Tuscarawas County on my grandparents farm, graduated in 1976 from the University of California at Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.