Ohio voters rejected Issue 1 Tuesday, the constitutional amendment that would have made it harder for citizens to propose and approve amendments to the state's constitution. It wasn't close 57% no, 43% yes. The standard has been a simple majority of voters can amend the constitution and it's been around for more than a century. Issue 1 sought to raise it to 60% and make it much harder to gather the signatures needed to qualify for a ballot. Concerns about extremely low turnout for an August election were unfounded. Turnout approached 40%.
The defeat of Issue 1 now puts all the focus on the November abortion amendment proposal. Ohio is the only state this year voting on abortion rights—so we can expect this battle to be acrimonious and expensive.
States have been dealing with issues of abortion access since last summer, when the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade.
Former Republican Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery was one of the most vocal opponents of Issue 1. She said the issue was designed to thwart any attempt for citizens to amend the constitution and was timed, in August, specifically to get out ahead of the November abortion rights vote. She told The Plain Dealer that State Issue 1 awakened quote "sleeping giant" -- Ohio voters.
Guests:
-Abbey Marshall, Reporter, Ideastream Public Media
-Sam Allard, Reporter, Axios Cleveland
-Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief
