Issue 1 passed with 56.62% of the vote statewide on Tuesday, November 7, in unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. Of the 3.86 million votes cast across Ohio, the “yes” vote made up more than 2.1 million.
This amendment to the Ohio Constitution, which allows the right to abortion up to fetal viability and puts medical decisions in the hands of doctors and patients, will take effect 30 days after Election Day.
Notable for us in Knox County: The unofficial results show 41.84% of Knox County voters casting a YES vote on Issue 1. This is five percentage points above the total voting against the August initiative that would have changed the process for amending the Ohio Constitution, and it compares to roughly 30% in Knox County voting for Tim Ryan for senator in 2022, and just under 28% voting for Biden in 2020. In other words, it looks like Knox County is getting smarter and maybe even more progressive!
This should give us hope for the future, but we cannot get complacent! We have big elections coming in 2024 — the U.S. presidential race, obviously, but also — closer to home — we need to re-elect Sherrod Brown as our U.S. Senator.
Many thanks for the result this year go to the team of people who collected signatures on the reproductive freedom petition, wrote postcards; kept our office open for visitors; talked with voters at the Knox County Fair, First Fridays, and other events; wrote letters to the editor; made phone calls; and spoke to voters in person at their doors. Won’t you join us as a volunteer next year? If you can help, please fill out this form to let us know how you might be able to help, and we will be in touch. Thank you so much!