Ohio Voters Defeat Issue 1 by 57%-43%

in Record Turnout for an August Election

Akron, OH: Today, Tom Zawistowski, President of the national We the People Convention (WTPC) organization, expressed his disappointment and concern after Ohio voters defeated State Issue 1 by a 57% to 43% margin on Tuesday, August 8th. Passage of Issue 1 would have raised the percentage of popular votes necessary to pass a Constitutional Amendment in Ohio to 60% from the current standard of 50% +1.

Zawistowski said, “Fueled by tens of millions of dollars in TV ads and other media, Ohioans turned out in historic numbers as over three million voters, 38% of all registered voters, came out to vote on Issue 1 which was defeated by a margin of 429,000 votes. Looking at the county-by-county voter results, it is my view that the left did not win Issue 1 as much as the conservative right lost the vote. This was primarily a result of confusion that was intentionally injected into the campaign by very clever, and I would say misleading, TV ads run by the left at the start of the campaign. These ad split the conservative vote just enough in rural communities to sway the election and cause the defeat of Issue 1."

Zawistowski continued, "Raising the bar to 60% of the popular vote was intended to make it harder for outside big money special interests to change the Ohio Constitution in the future. This became necessary once it was understood that, after Roe v Wade was reversed, the radical left discovered that it could “Legislate via Constitutional Amendment”. Even in red states which were vulnerable because of existing laws allowing for “Citizens Initiatives” like what they passed in Kansas earlier this year and Ohio is their next target. Unfortunately, we were unable to help Ohio Citizens understand that what the left has planned is much broader and deeper and more radical than just the November Abortion/Trans/Parents Rights Amendment. The Issue 1 vote was about the FUTURE Ohio Constitutional Amendments that the Left has planned for Guns, School Choice, Small Businesses, Farmers, Parents Rights, future election laws and more. Which was proven by comments made by the Democratic Mayor of Cleveland when he said the quiet part out loud that people should vote NO on Issue 1 so that they, the left, can implement gun control in Ohio using future Constitutional Amendments.”

Zawistowski concluded, “There were implications in this election for the 2024 election as well. Despite a significant effort to convince conservative voters to vote early in person or by mail, they did not do that in significant numbers and the left built an early vote lead that was basically the margin of victory in the end. Clearly early voting continues to provide an advantage for the Left's get-out-the-vote machine. I want to thank the tens of thousands of grassroots activists in Ohio, and our coalition partners, who worked very hard to educate voters and get out the vote in their counties. Especially those who participated in our very successful Barn Billboard program. I also want to thank the tens of thousands of poll workers who make our elections possible and who did an excellent job on Tuesday. We know now that we will have to regroup and make changes to our efforts so that we can defeat the radical Abortion/Trans/Parents Rights Amendment in November.”

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