Republicans in Ohio are still trying to pass their anti-choice agenda, even after voters in the state . The Ohio secretary of state was a vocal advocate for the August ballot measure, Issue 1 ― an initiative to raise the threshold for altering the state constitution from a simple statewide majority vote to 60%. Although a simple majority has been the standard in Ohio for over 100 years, anti-abortion advocates in the state called for a special election to raise the vote threshold in a preemptive attempt to block the pro-choice constitutional amendment.
The summary language created by LaRose and the rest of the ballot board does not change the meaning or intent of the actual constitutional amendment. The full text of the amendment will be available at boards of elections on voting day, and LaRose told the Ohio Capital-Journal that posters including the full text will be available at polling locations. But only the summary will be on the ballots Ohioans take into voting booths.
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Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights and other abortion rights advocates had requested that that ballot language mirror the full constitutional amendment to ensure accuracy and transparency. “By using the full text, voters will see for themselves the language they are being asked to approve and can make a free and independent decision on this fundamental question,” an attorney for the petitioners wrote in a letter to LaRose earlier this week.
The Nov. 7 vote on the pro-choice constitutional amendment will also be called Issue 1, adding more confusion for both abortion rights advocates and opponents given that the August special election on raising the vote threshold was also called Issue 1.
