MOUNT VERNON — Ohio voters said “no” to State Issue 1 on Tuesday, despite a strong Knox County vote in favor of the measure.
Knox County voters were overwhelmingly in favor of Issue 1 passing, with 10,883 in favor compared to 6,502 opposed, according to the final unofficial results collected by the Knox County Board of Elections.
However, State Issue 1, an amendment to the state Constitution, fell flat.
The amendment would have made it far more difficult in the future to amend the Ohio Constitution, including a need for 60% voter approval, instead of the simple majority needed today.
According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s website, as of noon, 57% of voters rejected the amendment, according to the unofficial results.
With 3.059 million votes counted, there were 1,744,094 against the proposal, compared to 1,315,346 in favor.
Most major news outlets across the state called the race less than two hours after polls closed at 7:30 p.m., including the Associated Press at 9 p.m.
State Issue 1 would have increased the difficulty of amending the constitution three months before a pro-choice group plans to have its own amendment issue on the ballot that would loosen abortion laws in Ohio.
Ohio Sec. of State Frank LaRose (R), who’s also running for U.S. Senate, released a statement after the election was called–“Ohioans will see the devastating impact of this vote soon enough.”
Brown also issued a statement saying, “Ohioans saw this amendment for what it was: a power grab by powerful people designed to silence their voices. By rejecting State Issue 1, Ohioans rejected special interests and demanded that democracy remain where it belongs – in the hands of voters, not the rich and powerful.”