Foot traffic was light Friday afternoon at the Allen County Board of Elections office on North Main Street.
LIMA — Early voting is underway ahead of the August 8 special election on Issue 1, a proposed constitutional amendment that could make it harder for Ohioans to amend the state’s constitution.
Nearly 500 people cast in-person ballots at the Allen County Board of Elections in the first week of early voting as of noon Friday, while another 290 absentee ballots are already in the mail, Director Kathy Meyer said.
Auglaize County Board of Elections Director Michelle Wilcox says turnout is higher than expected with 265 in-person votes and 200 absentee ballots in the mail as of 1 p.m. Friday.
“We’re busier than we expected,” Wilcox said. “It’s been a steady flow.”
Early voting on Issue 1 started Tuesday.
The constitutional amendment, which would raise the threshold for future ballot initiatives to pass from a simple majority of 50% plus one to a 60% supermajority, is the only question voters will decide on August 8.
The proposed amendment also raises signature requirements for future citizen-led ballot initiatives, which will need to collect signatures from all 88 counties rather than 44 counties as currently required, and eliminates the 10-day cure period during which petitioners may gather additional signatures if any submitted signatures are deemed invalid.
Lawmakers called for the special election on Issue 1, circumventing a new law eliminating most August elections, ahead of an anticipated ballot initiative in support of abortion and reproductive rights, which could appear on the ballot in November.
Supporters of that initiative submitted more than 700,000 signatures in July, nearly doubling the signature requirement for the question to come before voters.
Similar abortion rights amendments in other states have passed with less than 60% of the vote.
