Turnout, polling, and spending all point to loss for GOP effort to rig Ohio's ballot measure rules

Voting concludes Tuesday in Ohio for a high-stakes special election for a Republican-backed measure called Issue 1, a constitutional amendment that would make it harder for voters to pass future amendments―including an upcoming one to protect abortion rights. Voters in Mississippi also go to the polls the same day for their regularly scheduled party primaries for statewide offices, the state legislature, and other posts.

Ohio Republicans control the governorship and hold supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature, so ballot measures are one of the few ways that progressives can influence state government. To further restrict that avenue, Republican lawmakers placed Issue 1, which would increase the threshold for voter approval of amendments from the current simple majority to 60%, on the ballot.

The measure would also require voters to gather signatures from all 88 counties to qualify their own amendments instead of the current 44, a move designed to make it even harder for progressive measures to even reach the ballot in the first place. (Joe Biden carried just seven counties in 2020.)