Ohio voters could be forgiven for being confused about Issue 1, given that they were just bombarded with campaigns about a different — but somewhat related — “Issue 1” earlier this year. In August, Ohio voters rejected a ballot measure by the same name that would have made it more difficult to amend the state constitution through future ballot initiatives. If that Issue 1 had passed in August, it would have raised the threshold for a ballot measure to pass from a simple majority to 60 percent of the vote.
Ohio Republican lawmakers, who overwhelmingly supported the first Issue 1, insisted it was not related to abortion. However, some explicitly told supporters that the amendment was aimed at future abortion protections. Proponents of the first Issue 1 also used antiabortion messaging and imagery to campaign for the ballot measure.
To complicate matters, many of those who supported the Issue 1 in August were opposed to the Issue 1 on the ballot Tuesday — and vice versa.
