Ohio is voting on whether to raise the bar on referendums — and a popular abortion amendment

Supporters of Issue 1 in Ohio — (Image credit: Maddie McGarvey / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Late year, the Republican-led Ohio Legislature passed a law all but eliminating August elections, citing high costs and low turnout. In the spring, Ohio Republicans created and scheduled an Aug. 8 referendum on raising the threshold for voter-approved constitutional amendments to 60 percent, from the simple majority in place since Ohio first allowed citizen-led referendums 111 years ago.

Supporters of Issue 1, which also requires amendment backers to get signatures from all 88 Ohio counties instead of just 44, say its about good governance and limiting "out-of-state meddling" in state affairs. Opponents — including Republican former Ohio governors and Supreme Court justices — say the measure is aimed at weakening direct democracy and giving "special interests the winning advantage." Millions of dollars have bolstered both camps, much of it from out of state, The Associated Press detailed.

But everyone acknowledges that, at least to some sizable extent, Tuesday's vote is aimed at thwarting an amendment on the ballot in November that would enshrine abortion rights up to about 24 weeks in the state constitution. That would overturn a six-week ban, passed by the GOP Legislature but put on hold by a state judge, that took effect when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

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Polls show a majority of Ohio voters oppose the abortion ban, and a USA Today/Suffolk University poll from July found that 58% of Ohioans would vote for the November constitutional amendment. That's in line with other states that have put abortion rights to a popular vote in the past year — in all six states, the abortion rights side won, but with less than 60% of the vote.

If Ohio follows suit in November, "it will confirm that there's some sort of consensus around abortion rights, even in conservative states," University of California, Davis, law professor Mary Ziegler told BBC News. GOP lawmakers "think if voters had a straight up and down decision on abortion it wouldn't go their way, so they're trying to do what they can to prevent that from happening."

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.