Issue 1 Ohio election results 2023: Cincinnati, suburbs against ballot initiative
Cities and suburbs in the Greater Cincinnati region played a role in the defeat of Issue 1, the ballot initiative that would have made it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution.
Hamilton County voters rejected Issue 1 with 67% of the vote, according to unofficial results, higher than the statewide margin, where Issue 1 went down with 57% of the vote.
Issue 1's demise means the proposed amendment in November to enshrine abortion rights into the constitution will need a simple majority of more than 50% to pass instead of the 60% that Issue 1 would have required.
The last time Ohio voters considered a proposed constitutional amendment in August was 1926, according to the secretary of state's office.
Here are three takeaways from how the Cincinnati region voted.
What it means: What Issue 1 defeat mean for Ohio's proposed abortion amendment
Issue 1 brought out more Cincinnati voters than the mayoral race
Heavily Democratic areas, such as the city of Cincinnati, came out in high numbers, particularly for an unusual August election. In Cincinnati, 32% of voters came out, higher than the 25% turnout in the 2021 general election where Aftab Pureval beat David Mann for mayor.
And Cincinnati voters made it clear they did not support Issue 1, with 84% of the voters rejecting it, based on data from the Hamilton County Board of Elections.
Daniel Chaves, 22, of Corryville, was one of the 58,000 Cincinnati residents who voted against Issue 1.
"This is a proxy issue on abortion," Chaves said. "Republicans fear that they have a chance to lose their authority over people."
Tepid support in Republican areas
Republican strongholds surrounding Cincinnati didn't show as much enthusiasm for Issue 1, which was endorsed by the Ohio Republican Party, as Democratic areas showed antipathy for it.
In Butler County north of Cincinnati, where former President Donald Trump got 61% of the vote in 2020, the vote on Issue 1 was about even, 50%-50%, with 529 more people voting yes on Issue 1 out of 87,000 votes in the unofficial tally. There were 1,557 outstanding absentee ballots and provisional ballots, according to the secretary of state's office, that could be added to the count.
Just to the east of Butler County in another reliably Republican area of Warren County, Issue 1 passed with 53% of the vote. Trump won that county with 65% in 2020.
In Clermont County just east of Cincinnati, another Republican-dominated area, 54% voted yes on Issue 1.
East-west divide evident
Issue 1 showed the east-west divide in the Cincinnati region.
Green Township, Harrison, Cleves and other western suburbs outside of Cincinnati supported Issue 1. The further west you went, the more support there was for Issue 1. In Green Township, 57% voted yes; Delhi Township, 55%. In Whitewater Township, near the border with Indiana, Issue 1 passed with 65% of the vote.
However, east of Interstate 75, only eight precincts carried Issue 1. Every other precinct in the northern and eastern suburbs voted against Issue 1. In the suburbs of Anderson, Symmes and Sycamore townships, more than 60% of voters rejected Issue 1.
Only eight precincts east of Interstate 75 supported Issue 1.
Enquirer reporter Zurie Pope contributed to this report
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Issue 1 Ohio election results 2023: How Cincinnati voted
