Issue 1 on the Ohio ballot, which aimed to raise the threshold to change the state constitution from a simple majority – 50% of voters plus one – to 60%, got enormous national attention for a state ballot measure in an off-year special election.
No doubt this was because it was linked to the current state battles over abortion rights following the demise of Roe v. Wade. Both advocates and opponents saw the voting threshold change as potentially critical to the fate of an Ohio abortion rights measure already slated to be on the ballot in November 2023. On Aug. 8, 2023, Ohio voters soundly rejected Issue 1.
