Ohioans overwhelmingly voted to defeat a ballot question on Tuesday that sought to increase the threshold to amend the state’s Constitution, paving the way for an abortion rights amendment to gain approval if it’s supported by a simple majority of voters. 

The Republican-backed measure, known as Issue 1, failed by a nearly 20 percentage point margin with more than half of the votes counted as of Tuesday night. 

Some 59% of voters chose to keep the state’s current simple majority vote rule in place for amending the state constitution, compared to about 40% who voted to mandate a 60% supermajority vote. 

The Ohio special election result will have massive implications for abortion rights in Buckeye State. 

In November, Ohio voters will be asked to decide whether to codify abortion rights into the state constitution. 

If Issue 1 had been approved, it would have been more challenging for the abortion rights ballot measure to pass this fall. 

The measure also sought to change signature collection rules for groups trying to get constitutional changes on the ballot, requiring the collection of signatures from at least 5% of voters in the last gubernatorial election in all counties, instead of the current requirement of 44 counties. 

Issue 1 also would have done away with the 10-day period currently on the books that allows invalid signatures to be replaced. 

Nearly 642,000 Ohioans voted early on Issue 1, more than double the amount of early votes cast before the May 2022 primaries in the Buckeye State, according to the Columbus Dispatch. 

Early turnout was notably heavy in Democratic-leaning counties surrounding Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. 

At the moment, abortion is legal in Ohio up to 22 weeks of gestation. 

November’s abortion rights ballot measure will ask voters if “every individual has a right to make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility treatment, continuing one’s own pregnancy, miscarriage care, and abortion.”

“The State shall not, directly or indirectly, burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate against either an individual’s voluntary exercise of this right or a person or entity that assists an individual exercising this right, unless the State demonstrates that it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care,” the upcoming abortion rights ballot measure reads. 

“Abortion may be prohibited after fetal viability. But in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient’s life or health,” it continues. 

Protect Women Ohio, an in-state group backing Issue 1, spent $5.5 million on ad buys supporting Tuesday’s ballot question – money largely raised from out-of-state donors.  

Protect Our Constitution, another group supporting the initiative, was funded almost entirely by billionaire Illinois business owner Richard Uihlein, who gave $4 million of the campaign’s $4.8 million fundraising total, according to the Associated Press. 

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest single provider of abortions, celebrated Tuesday’s results. 

“WE DID IT! Issue 1 has been defeated!  Thank you to all of our incredible partners  @VoteNoInAugust and our volunteers for their commitment to the fight! Next stop: protecting reproductive freedom in Ohio this November!” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, the national group’s state advocacy arm, wrote in a tweet. 

Alexis McGill Johnson, president & CEO of Planned Parenthood and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, also recognized the results of Tuesday’s proxy vote on abortion rights in Ohio. 

“Great news! Ohioans showed up to the polls and rejected the opposition’s attempts to undermine democracy and restrict reproductive freedom. Abortion is on the ballot this November. Mark your calendars now, Ohio!” Johnson said in a tweet. 

With Post wires