Ohio Issue 1 brings out Marion County voters in droves for Aug. 8 special election
Regardless of whether they supported or opposed Issue 1, one thing that members of the Marion County Board of Elections could agree on was the fact that they were pleased with local voter turnout for Tuesday’s special election. Nearly 35% of registered voters in the county cast ballots in this election.
Had it passed, Issue 1 would have required "that any proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of Ohio receive the approval of at least 60 percent of eligible voters voting on the proposed amendment." Ohio law currently requires just a simple majority vote (50.01%) to approve a constitutional amendment.
Additionally, the amendment would have required "that any initiative petition filed on or after Jan. 1, 2024, with the Secretary of State proposing to amend the Constitution of the State of Ohio be signed by at least five percent of the eligible voters of each county in the state."
Issue 1 passed in Marion County
According to the final unofficial vote tally, Issue 1 gained traction with voters in Marion County. The measure won support from 7,456 local voters with 5,894 voting against it (55.85% to 44.15%). There are 219 outstanding absentee and provisional ballots that will added to the final total once they are received and processed.
Voter turnout for the special election in Marion County was 34.8%, with 13,405 of the county’s 38,524 registered voters casting ballots, the highest number since the November general elections in 2020 and 2022.
When polls closed on Tuesday evening, the board of elections released the first round of results (early votes cast ahead of election day), which showed 2,458 votes against Issue 1 and 1,705 votes for it (59.04% to 40.96%).
Deputy Elections Director Brian Blair he wasn’t surprised by the disparity between the early voting numbers and the final results. He noted that, in his experience, it’s not unusual to see fairly large differences between results of early voting and election day voting.
Boards of election can begin the official canvass of the special election on Aug. 23. The canvass must be completed and certified by Aug. 29.
Voter turnout a positive sign
Board of Elections President Todd Anderson said he was pleased with the 34.8% voter turnout “for a one-issue election” and hopes it’s a positive sign heading into the Nov. 7 general election.
To say the least, voter turnout in Marion County has been weak in recent years, according to statistics from the Board of Elections. Aside from the presidential election in 2020 (69.91%) and the gubernatorial election in 2022 (49.31%), voter turnout locally hasn’t exceeded 30% until this special election.
On three occasions since 2019, voter turnout has been lower than 15%, including in single digits once. In four elections since 2019, voter turnout has ranged from 22.92% to 29.98%.
Following is a listing of Marion County voter turnout figures from 2019 to 2023 with total number of ballots cast and number of registered voters in parentheses:
May 7, 2019 Primary-Special Election – 14.65% (5,748/39,226)
Nov. 5, 2019 General Election – 29.98% (11,618/38,751)
March 17, 2020 Presidential Primary Election – 24.53% (9,588/39,093)
Nov. 3, 2020 Presidential General Election – 69.91% (28,151/40,265)
Nov. 2, 2021 General Election – 22.92% (9,086/39,645)
May 3, 2022 Primary Election – 23.14% (9,102/39,355)
Aug. 2, 2022 Primary Election – 8.96% (3,525/39,343)
Nov. 8, 2022 General Election – 49.31% (19,483/39,511)
May 2, 2023 Primary-Special Election – 11.33% (3,085/27,232)
Aug. 8, 2023 Special Election – 34.8% (13,405/38,524)
The deadline to register for the Nov. 7 general election is Oct. 10. For information about voter registration and other election-related topics, go to the Marion County Board of Elections website www.boe.ohio.gov/marion.
Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Marion County voter turnout and results for Aug. 8 special election
