Ohio voters kept it easy to pass a constitutional amendment protecting abortion − but also for the majority to someday limit other rights

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Edward L. Lascher Jr., California State University, Sacramento and Joshua J. Dyck, UMass Lowell

(THE CONVERSATION) Issue 1 on the Ohio ballot, which aimed to raise the threshold to change the state constitution from a simple majority – 50% of voters plus one – to 60%, got enormous national attention for a state ballot measure in an off-year special election.

No doubt this was because it was linked to the current state battles over abortion rights following the demise of Roe v. Wade. Both advocates and opponents saw the voting threshold change as potentially critical to the fate of an Ohio abortion rights measure already slated to be on the ballot in November 2023. On Aug. 8, 2023, Ohio voters soundly rejected Issue 1.

Media coverage about Issue 1 commonly framed it as an effort by abortion opponents to obtain a short-term victory by making it much harder to pass the November abortion rights measure. The timing of the measure, and the lack of a link to current efforts to reform direct democracy, make such claims...