Issue 1 poll: Most Ohio voters oppose plan to make it harder to amend constitution

Haley BeMiller, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·4 min read
58
Nearly 60% of Ohio voters oppose an August ballot measure that would make it harder to change the constitution, according to a new poll.
Nearly 60% of Ohio voters oppose an August ballot measure that would make it harder to change the constitution, according to a new poll.

Nearly 60% of Ohio voters oppose an August ballot measure that would make it harder to change the constitution, according to a new poll.

A USA TODAY Network/Suffolk University poll released Thursday found 57% of voters are against Issue 1, including some Republicans and opponents of abortion. Twenty-six percent back the issue, while 17% are undecided with just weeks to go before the Aug. 8 election.

More from our Ohio poll: Ohio voters are backing Donald Trump; Sen. Sherrod Brown in tight race in 2024

Issue 1, if passed, would require 60% of the vote to enact proposed constitutional amendments instead of a simple majority of 50% plus one. It also would require citizens to get signatures from all 88 counties to place something on the ballot, instead of 44, and remove a 10-day period that allows petitioners to replace bad signatures.

"There is an enormous coalition working to educate voters about Issue 1 − and the more voters learn, the more they hate it," said Dennis Willard, a spokesman for the One Person One Vote coalition, which opposes Issue 1. "But we also know that special interests and politicians put Issue 1 on an Aug. 8 ballot because they wanted to sneak it past voters, so we remain laser focused on raising awareness and turning out Ohioans to reject it."

The poll of 500 voters, including 454 people who plan to vote this year, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. It was conducted July 9 to 12.

Ohio Poll voter support
Ohio Poll voter support

Opposition to Issue 1 bucks partisan politics

Some of the key groups advocating for and against Issue 1 fall along party lines. The Ohio Republican Party is urging voters to support the measure, while the Ohio Democratic Party is working against it. Other supporters include conservative-leaning organizations such as the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Right to Life.

One Person One Vote includes unions and environmental groups that tend to favor Democrats. But former GOP governors and nonpartisan voting rights advocates are also among the staunchest critics of Issue 1.

The poll suggests those nuances exist among Ohio voters. Democrats are more likely to oppose Issue 1, but 41% of Republicans, 60% of independents and 41% of Ohioans who voted for President Donald Trump in 2020 said they're also against it. Conversely, 13% of Democrats and 12% of President Joe Biden's supporters said they back the issue.

Eleven percent of Democrats, 21% of Republicans and 16% of independents remain undecided.

Ohio Poll Issue 1 support based on party
Ohio Poll Issue 1 support based on party

Opponents dominated other key demographics in the poll, including age, race and education level. The strongest opposition comes from voters in the Cleveland and Cincinnati areas, but over half of voters in all five regions of the state are against the ballot proposal.

Proponents of Issue 1 dismissed the poll's findings and expressed confidence that Ohio voters are on their side.

"Though the multiple millions spent by special interests on false ads against Issue 1 has impacted the media’s polling, our polling shows that the momentum our grassroots campaign is building across all 88 counties of the state will show up in force on Election Day," said Spencer Gross, a spokesman for Protect Our Constitution. "When Ohioans hear the facts about Issue 1, they strongly support it because they want to protect our constitution against the very type of big money, out-of-state influence we have been seeing from the 'no' side."

How is abortion influencing voters on Issue 1?

The results indicate voters also have complicated views about the relationship between Issue 1 and abortion. Ohio Republicans pushed for the August election to get ahead of a potential November ballot issue that would enshrine abortion and other reproductive rights in the constitution.

According to the poll:

  • Nearly two-thirds of those who support the proposed abortion amendment are against Issue 1.

  • Twenty-two percent of abortion-rights backers support Issue 1.

  • Nearly half of voters who oppose the abortion amendment also oppose Issue 1.

  • One-third of abortion opponents are in favor of Issue 1.

University of Cincinnati political scientist David Niven said the findings − particularly the division among anti-abortion Ohioans − show Issue 1 supporters are struggling to sell the measure to their base.

"The Republicans who are backing this issue are forced into selling an 'eat your peas' message," Niven said. "There’s nothing exciting about it. There’s nothing people want. They’re grasping at something and trying to tell you it's for your own good."

Read more about Issue 1 and the August election

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Issue 1: Poll finds most Ohio voters oppose August ballot issue