Ohio voters on Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have made it considerably harder to amend the state constitution in a major win for reproductive rights and democracy advocates in the state.
The result means that Ohio will keep its current process for amending the state constitution in place.
Issue 1, the proposal under consideration, would have made both of those steps harder.
It would have required voters to collect signatures in all 88 counties and then required a supermajority of 60% to pass it.
It was the first time since 1926 that Ohio voters cast ballots on a proposed constitutional amendment in August.
Republicans, who control the state legislature, rushed the measure to the ballot in an effort to make it harder to pass a referendum to protect abortion rights that’s set for this fall.
We thank Ohio voters for doing their homework and for going out to vote ‘no’ on Issue 1,” said Rachael Belz, CEO of Ohio Citizen Action, which worked to reject the amendment. »
