An Ohio ballot initiative to make it harder to amend the state constitution, a change conservatives said was needed to protect the state from a radical liberal agenda, has failed to pass in a lopsided vote.
Voters overwhelmingly rejected State Issue 1 by a large margin on Tuesday, meaning the threshold for future ballot measures to pass will remain at 50% rather than the 60% the initiative would have required had it passed.
The race was called by The Associated Press.
The failure of the initiative to pass also means the path for another ballot measure on whether to codify the “right” to an abortion into the state constitution could have an easier time passing.
The issue prompted a massive early vote turnout – one that had some election offices straining to manage the load.
As of last Wednesday, more than 533,000 people had voted by mail or in person since early voting began July 11, according to data collected by the Associated Press. That’s nearly double the final early voting figures for Ohio’s two previous midterm primary elections, which included races for governor and Congress.
Democrat opponents of the measure made the argument that the initiative would take away power from voters and give it to politicians. They also focused their opposition largely on abortion.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.