Issue 1, an Ohio ballot measure to raise the threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment, failed on Tuesday in a tough defeat for conservatives who sought to make it more difficult for special-interest groups to influence the state constitution.
The “no” choice to keep the simple-majority threshold under current law was winning with nearly 59.4 percent, with an estimated 44.8 percent of the vote counted, the Washington Post projected just after 9 p.m. EDT.
Ohio has used a simple-majority requirement since 1912, but Issue 1 would have bumped the threshold up to 60 percent.
Ahead of the special election, supporters and opponents of the measure agreed that the vote could have far-reaching implications. Special-interest groups committed millions of dollars to the race to ensure that it would remain easier to push their legislative agenda via ballot amendment.
Conservatives warned that leaving the threshold at 50 percent plus one vote could cause Ohio to become a blueprint for progressive groups to circumvent the normal legislative process in states across the country.
"What we have seen in Ohio is that our constitution is for sale," Mehek Cooke, a Republican attorney who has previously served as legal counsel for the Ohio governor's office, previously told National Review. "We have special-interest groups that are on the outside, opponents that have raised and spent over $10 million exclusively to attack our fundamental constitutional rights with their liberal agenda."
A campaign committee opposing Issue 1, called "One Person, One Vote," raised $14.8 million and spent $10.4 million on its efforts, according to campaign-finance reports. Around $13 million of the money raised came from groups rather than individuals. Donors included the progressive dark-money group Sixteen Thirty Fund, which contributed $2.5 million, and the Ohio Education Association and its national affiliate, which donated $2 million. More than $1.8 million came from the Tides Foundation, and the UCLA donated $1 million.
Of the $14.8 million raised, more donations came from Washington, D.C., or California-based donors than from Ohio-based donors.
Meanwhile, Protect Our Constitution, the campaign committee in support of Issue 1, has raised $4.9 million — 82.5 percent of which came from Illinois conservative billionaire Richard Uihlein. The group had spent $1.6 million as of last week.
Cooke said ahead of the election that raising the threshold would be about protecting the state's constitution from national interest groups that travel across America with an agenda. These groups have decided that if they can't pass a law through the legislature or a governor, they're going straight for state constitutions, she said.
Issue 1 would have had the most immediate impact on an ACLU-backed ballot proposal that will come up for a vote in November. That constitutional amendment would effectively outlaw any restrictions on abortion and other procedures that involve reproduction, including gender-transition surgeries. It would also remove parental-consent and notification requirements for minors who undergo the procedures.
"We know that Ohio is really their battleground," Cooke said. "They're hoping that they can virtually create unlimited rights for reproductive decisions" using ballot measures. Efforts to introduce extreme ballot measures also are being undertaken across the country, from New York to Florida, South Dakota to Missouri.
If Issue 1 had passed, it might have been enough to thwart the group's efforts: 59 percent of Ohioans said last year they would amend the state constitution to protect abortion access, according to a Baldwin Wallace University poll.
Now, the Left is looking toward relying on ballot measures to advance its agenda on a whole host of issues, including the legalization of recreational marijuana, an increased minimum wage, and livestock-care standards.
Cleveland mayor Justin Bibb, a Democrat, urged Ohioans to vote against Issue 1 so that some day a ballot measure on gun control might advance.
"We can use our real political power to change the culture of guns in this state. It starts by voting no on Issue 1, by the way, to make sure we can maybe put a ballot measure on our state constitution to have common-sense gun reform," he said.
And while these ballot measures are dangerous because they circumvent the typical process for legislating policy, the measures are also often written in misleading language that can make it difficult for voters to understand what exactly they're voting for.
Along with raising the threshold, Issue 1 would have required citizens who want to place an amendment on the ballot to collect signatures from at least 5 percent of voters from the last gubernatorial election in all 88 counties — double the current requirement of just 44 counties.
The measure also would have eliminated a ten-day cure period that allows citizens to replace any signatures found to be invalid by the secretary of state's office.
Ohio is lost. Come to Tennessee ‼️
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