- Biden wasted little time in declaring victory after a closely-watched Ohio special election.
- Voters in the state swiftly rejected a GOP-led effort to make it harder to pass constitutional amendments.
- While not explicitly about abortion, Republicans made clear that they wanted to short-circuit a proposed abortion rights amendment.
President Joe Biden on Tuesday night wasted little time in declaring victory after a broad coalition of Ohioans resoundingly rejected a GOP-led effort to short-circuit an abortion rights vote this November.
“Today, Ohio voters rejected an effort by Republican lawmakers and special interests to change the state’s constitutional amendment process,” Biden said in a late-night statement released by the White House. “This measure was a blatant attempt to weaken voters’ voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions. Ohioans spoke loud and clear, and tonight democracy won.
While votes are still being counted after 11:30 p.m. EDT, multiple major media organizations and election forecasters projected that Ohio has rejected Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment that would have raised the threshold for any future amendment to pass. While proponents tried to cast their issue in broad terms, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose made it explicitly clear that the issue was about abortion.
If it had passed, abortion rights advocates would have needed to reach 60% this November to pass a proposed amendment guaranteeing basic rights through fetal viability or roughly 22 weeks of pregnancy. Now, the proposed amendment will just need a simple majority.
Biden’s statement makes it clear that the White House is closely tracking state efforts to both expand and curtail abortion rights. Thus far, those measures have led to a string of embarrassing defeats for conservatives. Future amendments and referendums could be a major boost to Biden’s reelection chances. Activists are already eyeing a 2024 abortion ballot measure in Arizona.
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