The last battle in Ohio’s abortion proxy war has been played

Even though there are no candidates on the vote, an uncommon, off-cycle special election is bringing a huge number of Ohioans to the ballots.

Issue 1, a constitutional proposal that could make it far tougher to change the state’s constitution and submit citizen-initiated ballot proposals to voters, has already received the support of over 500,000 voters. The result of Tuesday’s election will directly affect Ohio’s abortion rights ballot item in November, but many believe it will also have a larger impact on the 2 parties’ approaches to other ballot initiatives.

Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) stated that some people in positions of power, regardless of being aware that they don’t speak for a large portion of their constituents, are keeping an eye on Ohio and thinking, “Hey, if this is effective, this might become a way to preserve our authority at the cost of people’s rights, at the cost of their democracy.”