Voter turnout better than expected in Ohio special election on Issue 1

Haley BeMiller, Cincinnati Enquirer
Updated ·4 min read
29
After a contentious campaign, Ohio voters will decide today whether it should be harder to change the state constitution.
After a contentious campaign, Ohio voters will decide today whether it should be harder to change the state constitution.

After a contentious campaign, Ohio voters will decide today whether it should be harder to change the state constitution.

Issue 1: Everything you need to know about Ohio Issue 1 and the August special election

Polls opened at 6:30 a.m. for the special election on Issue 1, which would require a 60% of the vote to enact new constitutional amendments instead of a simple majority. It also would:

  • Require citizens who want to place an amendment on the ballot to collect signatures from at least 5% of voters from the last gubernatorial election in all 88 counties, instead of the current 44.

  • Eliminate a 10-day cure period that allows citizens to replace any signatures deemed faulty by the secretary of state's office.

Ohio Issue 1: Groups make final pitch ahead of August special election

Issue 1 needs a simple majority to pass. If approved, the 60% threshold would take effect right away, and changes to signature gathering would be in place starting Jan. 1.

Polling places will be open until 7:30 p.m., and anyone in line by then will be able to cast a ballot.

You can visit voteohio.gov to find your polling location and other critical information for election day. Some schools and churches that typically serve as polling places were unavailable today, so election officials have encouraged Ohioans to double check where they're supposed to vote.

If you didn't already mail your absentee ballot, you can return it to your local board of elections before 7:30 p.m. Mail-in ballots that were postmarked on or before Monday must arrive by Aug. 12 to be counted.

What does turnout look like?

It's still too soon to say what the final turnout will look like, but enthusiasm over Issue 1 has so far surprised election officials.

Nearly 642,000 people cast early in-person or absentee ballots before Tuesday, according to data from the secretary of state's office.

Some counties are also tracking their Election Day turnout. Shortly before 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Hamilton County neared 30% when accounting for absentee and Election Day voters. Cuyahoga County sat around 28%, while Butler County reported a turnout of nearly 26%.

These figures don't include Ohioans who will cast ballots in the final hours of the election.

Who introduced Issue 1 in Ohio?

The Aug. 8 election is the culmination of a fight that began last year, when Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, first introduced a plan to tighten the rules for constitutional amendments. Proponents of the measure say they want to keep controversial policies out of the constitution and reserve it for the state's fundamental rights and values.

Critics, on the other hand, contend Issue 1 is a power grab that would hamstring the rights of citizens to place an issue on the ballot.

The debate played out for months in the halls of the Ohio Statehouse as advocates packed committee rooms to oppose the proposal. LaRose and Stewart initially wanted to put the question before voters in May, but infighting among Republican lawmakers shifted the conversation to August.

GOP officials made it clear that they wanted to hold the election before November, when Ohioans will decide whether to enshrine abortion rights in the constitution.

Things only got messier from there. Lawmakers voted last year to restrict most August special elections because of the cost and low turnout. Some Republicans were reluctant to walk that back, forcing the GOP-controlled Legislature to abandon a separate bill that would have allocated $20 million for the election.

Republicans in the House and Senate finally passed the resolution May 10. Opponents weren't ready to give up and sued over the election, contending it wasn't legal because of the new August election law. The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of GOP lawmakers, but justices did order the Ohio Ballot Board to rewrite the ballot language as part of a separate lawsuit.

Issue 1 prompts expensive summer campaign

With the election officially a go, groups on both sides launched expensive campaigns that shook up what would have been a quiet summer in Ohio politics.

The One Person One Vote coalition opposing Issue 1 spent roughly $12.4 million on TV, cable and radio advertising, according to ad-tracking firm Medium Buying. The group dominated the airwaves for weeks − much to the chagrin of Issue 1 supporters − but Protect Our Constitution eventually launched ad buys to the tune of $2.5 million.

The anti-abortion group Protect Women Ohio spent roughly $7.1 million in advertising to support Issue 1.

Both campaigns were largely bankrolled by out-of-state donors, even as they railed against the influence of outside interests. Protect Our Constitution received most of its funding from Illinois billionaire and conservative donor Richard Uihlein, while opponents got substantial help from progressive groups in California and Washington, D.C.

High turnout, long lines: A look at Ohio's last weekend of early voting on Issue 1

Robust early voting turnout surprised election officials and left groups on both sides cautiously optimistic. Whether that enthusiasm continues into today remains to be seen.

Check back here for results and reaction to Ohio's special election on Issue 1.

Read more about Issue 1

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 turnout better than expected with hours left to vote