On August 8, Ohio voters roundly rejected Issue 1, a referendum (or legislatively referred ballot initiative) that would have raised the winning threshold for future ballot initiatives to 60 percent instead of a simple majority, making it harder to get citizen initiatives on the ballot.

Issue 1 was widely understood as a proxy war for abortion rights, as Ohio will see an initiative on abortion this November. All six state ballot initiatives on abortion rights in 2022 went the direction of reproductive freedom with between 52 and 59 percent of the vote, and Issue 1 was attempting to raise the bar for victory above the 58 percent of Ohio voters who polls suggest will support abortion rights.

Issue 1 was designed to derail abortion rights. It was also part of a multistate attack by state legislatures on the citizen initiative process. The campaign began in the mid-2010s after a series of initiatives passed egalitarian policies like raising minimum wages, expanding Medicaid coverage, and taxing the rich to fund public services.