Issue 1: Ohio vote delivers win for abortion rights supporters

Ohio has rejected a Republican-crafted constitutional amendment, widely seen as an attempt to derail a coming referendum to protect abortion rights.

Tuesday's vote was over a measure called Issue 1, which would have raised the bar for future constitutional amendments to 60% from a bare majority.

Issue 1's proponents argued the proposed change would guard the constitution from outside influence.

Some three million Ohioans cast ballots definitively rejecting the measure.

As of Wednesday afternoon local time, with nearly all voting precincts tallied, 57% of voters had rejected Issue 1, with the 'yes' side trailing by 14 points.

Ohio's rare summer vote, seen as another test case for abortion's popular support among voters, drew national attention.

President Joe Biden, a Democrat, called the Republican-backed move a "blatant attempt to weaken voters' voices and further erode the freedom of women to make their own health care decisions".

Ohioans, too, seemed energised by the special election. Nearly twice as many people voted on the Ohio measure than cast ballots in primaries for governor, Senate, House and other major state-wide races in last year's midterms.

"The amount of public debate and advocacy on both sides was unprecedented," said former Ohio Governor Bob Taft.

Here's a breakdown of the measure's controversies and a look at what comes next.

Issue 1 was the only question on the ballot in Ohio's 8 August special election.

If passed, it would have changed the threshold for approving amendments from 50% to 60%. Issue 1 would have also made it harder to put amendments before voters in the first place, asking petitioners to gather signatures from 5% of eligible voters in each of Ohio's 88 counties, instead of the current 44.

In the 111 years since Ohio first granted voters the power to introduce citizen-led amendments, just 19 of 71 proposed measures have passed the 50% benchmark.

Issue 1 was championed by Ohio's Republican led-legislature and the state's chief election official, Republican secretary of state Frank LaRose.

Mr LaRose and his allies said Issue 1 was about protecting the Ohio constitution from outside moneyed interests.

"Constitutions are for fundamental rights, widely held beliefs," he told the BBC this week. "Not just a controversial issue that may have 51% support."

But opponents of Issue 1 - a diverse and bipartisan coalition - insisted it was actually an effort to block the abortion amendment.

"They've seen polls in Ohio that show 58, 59% of Ohioans support this amendment," said Kellie Copeland, executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio. "And so they were looking to put it just out of reach."

And most of Ohio's voters seemed to agree.

"Prior to Issue 1 becoming a thing, no one ever expressed concern about Ohio's amendment process, and suddenly it's the biggest fight of the century overnight?" said Tyler Grote, 35, a small business owner in Cincinnati. "The entire measure was preposterous."

Polls suggest that the abortion rights amendment - which protects abortion access up until foetal viability (around 24 weeks of pregnancy) - would be likely to win a majority. But meeting the 60% threshold would have been a long shot.

Now, activists will turn to that November vote, with the wind at the backs of abortion supporters.

There have been six state-wide abortion-related ballot initiatives since Roe v Wade was overturned last year. In every one so far - Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, California, Montana and Vermont - abortion rights have won.

Experts say Ohio is likely to follow.

"Yesterday was a great day for democracy, Ohioans rejected an outrageous attempt by extremists to silence our voices," said Dr Lauren Beene, founder of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights. "Today we begin the battle to protect our constitutional rights and reject government interference in November."

And beyond abortion, observers say the implications of Ohio's August election could spill over into the state's election for US senator next year, in which Mr LaRose may be a candidate.