Ohio voters rejected a measure Tuesday that would have made it harder to amend the state constitution, and critics said the ballot measure was an attempt to stop language from being added to the state constitution that would protect abortion.
Issue 1, which would have raised the percentage of votes needed to change the Ohio constitution to 60% up from a simple majority, failed with 57% voting against it and about 43% voting for it, according to The Associated Press. More than 3 million votes were cast in the special election.
The ballot measure was opposed by four former governors from both parties — Democrats Ted Strickland and Dick Celeste and Republicans John Kasich and Bob Taft — as well as One Person One Vote, a coalition that included voting rights groups, faith groups, organized labor and advocacy groups.
One Person One Vote spokesperson Dennis Willard called Issue 1 a “deceptive power grab” and called the results “a major victory for democracy in Ohio,” at the group’s election night party, according to the AP.
Ohio’s Republican Gov. Mike DeWine indicated he would vote in favor of Issue 1, saying at a press conference in May that it “creates a higher burden in regard to changing the constitution.” His office did not release a statement after the ballot measure failed.
The group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which opposes abortion, called the results “a warning for pro-life states across the nation” in a statement and said as long as Republicans “take the ostrich strategy and bury their heads in the sand, they will lose again and again.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement that “democracy won” in Ohio and he called Issue 1 a “blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions.”
The state’s two U.S. senators took opposing views on Issue 1 but both argued their side was being opposed by special interests. Ohio’s Republican Sen. J.D. Vance posted on social media on Election Day that Issue 1 was an attempt “to make it harder for out of state special interests to rewrite the Ohio constitution.” Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio posted on social media that the election results showed “Ohioans rejected special interests and demanded that democracy remain where it belongs — in the hands of voters, not the rich and powerful.”
Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, a Republican who supported Issue 1, said voters must “stop abortion from being a part of our state’s constitution” by voting against future abortion amendment attempts, according to the Ohio Capital Journal.
A July USA Today-Suffolk University poll found 58% of likely Ohio voters said they support a constitutional amendment protecting access to reproductive services in the state and 32% said they oppose it.