KETTERING, Ohio—As the polls opened at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 8 for Ohio’s special election, more than half a million voters had already cast their ballots on a crucial measure that could decide the fate of an initiative to enshrine abortion as a right in the state’s constitution.
Issue 1, if passed on Tuesday, would make it more difficult for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution by raising the threshold to pass an amendment from a simple majority to 60 percent of voters.
Other changes the measure would implement include requiring future citizen-initiated constitutional amendment campaigns to collect signatures from each of Ohio’s 88 counties (the current requirement is 44) and eliminating the current 10-day cure period during which petitioners can collect additional signatures if they initially fell short. Those changes would not take effect until January.
While the ballot measure does not specifically pertain to abortion, if passed, it could affect a proposed amendment to establish a constitutional right to abortion, which will be on the ballot this November.
And according to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, that is “100 percent” the purpose of Issue 1.
Voters Respond
Early turnout was high in the lead-up to Election Day, with 578,490 voters taking advantage of the state’s early voting options.
Nevertheless, faithful Election Day voters made the trek to the polls on Tuesday morning to make their voices heard.
Dayton resident Amy Jones said she turned out to oppose Issue 1 in support of abortion rights.
“It’s clear that Republicans want 60 percent so they can keep us from having abortion rights,” she told The Epoch Times. “They say it is not just about abortion, but that is on the ballot in November, and it would be un-American if 59 percent of Ohioans voted for abortion rights, and it still would not be enough votes.”
But Al Barkalow, a conservative from left-leaning west Dayton, said the ramifications of Issue 1 extend far beyond abortion.
“If Issue 1 doesn’t pass, that makes it easier to make Ohio more like California,” he contended. “The radical left’s agenda is all about gender transformation without parental approval, and restricting First Amendment and Second Amendment rights, as a few examples. It’s not about a single issue. It’s about a whole ideology that is wrong for Ohio and should not be decided on by Democrats in major metropolitan areas.”
In that vein, Mr. Barkalow said he voted “yes” on Issue 1 to ensure the interests of the entire state of Ohio would be fairly represented.
“I compare it to the Electoral College on the national level,” he said. “If the Electoral College didn’t exist, then New York, California, and a few other highly populated states would determine every election. That is not what our Founding Fathers had in mind.
“Right now, cities like Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland have a major impact on what happens in Ohio,” he added. “Much of Ohio is rural, and people in those counties are left out. Passing Issue 1 would level the playing field and give every county more equal representation.”
That concern was echoed in the sprawling Dayton suburb of Kettering by Joe Overholser, president of Citizens For a Strong Kettering.
“Larger counties should not have more of a say of what happens in Ohio than smaller counties, but that is what will keep happening if this issue does not pass,” he said. “Opponents of Issue 1 want it to be easier to restrict gun rights and parental rights, and they want to make it easier to allow abortion.”
Millions of dollars in ad spending from out-of-state donors have poured into both sides of the Issue 1 debate. If Issue 1 fails, Mr. Overholser said voters could expect more of the same, allowing national organizations and groups to “essentially bypass the normal legislative process and mislead the population to vote for whatever agenda they want.”
