Ohio’s Issue 1 was overwhelmingly defeated by Ohio voters on 8/8/2023, signaling that the GOP is in trouble. Ohio will most likely be legalizing abortion in November 2023. But we must stay vigilant to ensure that happens.
NO on Issue 1 is a huge win for Ohio voters who retain the right to put issues directly on the ballot. They don’t have to rely on their legislature and can pass those ballot measures with a simple majority. The Republicans have been trying to raise that to 60%, considered a supermajority. This is also a resounding loss for Ohio Republicans. This alone keeps democracy alive and well in Ohio.
As a reminder, a simple majority is a voting requirement in which a proposal must receive more than half of the votes to pass. For example, if 100 votes are cast, a proposal must receive 51 or more votes to pass. Simple majorities are the most common voting requirement in the United States. They are used in elections for public office and in legislative bodies like Congress and state legislatures.
Ohio Republicans don’t want their voters to have any power. And so they went out of their way to sneak in Issue 1. Ironically, in 2022, Ohio Republicans banned August special elections and then broke their own law to put Issue 1 on the ballot in August because they knew there’d be a low voter turnout.
Ohio Voters: Was Turnout Low?
No, it wasn’t. Turnout for Issue 1 beat the turnout of the 2022 primaries. With most votes counted, they are 57% NO and 43% YES, which is weird when you think about it. The 43% who voted YES took the time to vote to take away their power to take the time to vote. That’s what Issue 1 was about. But that’s voting in America.
There were terrific wins out of unexpected counties in Ohio too. Like, Geauga County. They last voted for a Democrat for president in 1964. With Issue 1, the NO votes had the majority. In Delaware County, which last voted for a Democrat for president in 1916, the NO vote got the majority there, too.
Big Wins
In Ohio, a red state, Sherrod Brown, a Democratic Senator, as blue as can be, will likely win re-election in 2024.
Once light red, Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have turned powder blue, meaning more democratic.
Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia are moving from red to purple, more evenly divided.
Republican parties in some of those states are going bankrupt.
Trump is sputtering out of control and may end up in prison.
The movie Barbie, which Republicans railed at said would be a flop, has already grossed over a billion dollars.
What Does It All Mean?
The political pendulum, which has been swinging to the right for 40-plus years, might now swing back slowly but surely to the center and even go to the left.
And more importantly, this era of craziness, ignorance, and hatred that began with the election of Obama when the GOP went haywire at the thought of a black man becoming president might be starting to calm down. We can only hope and keep striving for this. Commit to making your civic duty a routine.