Early voting for the August 8 election began Tuesday morning, July 11, 2023, at the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections office in Downtown Cleveland. A voter runs their ballot through the scanner after voting. Courtesy of David Petkiewicz (cleveland.com)

Ohioans have two elections facing them this fall. 

The first, a special election on Tuesday, will decide if the standards for passing and initiating a constitutional amendment should be raised, which could possibly affect the ballot initiative on reproductive rights in the November election.

The special election’s topic, known as Issue 1, would increase the percentage of voters needed to pass an amendment to the state’s constitution. Instead of a 50 percent plus one majority currently needed for ballot initiatives, 60 percent of voters would need to approve.

Aaron Sellers, the public information officer at Franklin County Board of Elections, said while the more than 700,000 signatures for reproductive rights to appear on the November ballot have exceeded the requirement, the passage of Issue 1 would also require signatures to come from all 88 counties.

The issue also proposes to eliminate the 10 day curing period allowed to fulfill the signature requirement if advocates fail to meet the initial deadline.

“If you submit signatures and you did not meet the threshold needed, it would be done,” Sellers said. “You would not be able to get it on the ballot.”

If passed, the issue would take effect immediately, meaning the initiative to protect reproductive rights set to appear on ballots in November would require a higher rate of approval than advocates initially expected.

This initiative would establish the right to “make and carry out one’s own reproductive decisions” in the state’s constitution, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year.

Further, it would protect abortion as a right when a patient’s life is in danger, stop the state from interfering with the right unless “it is using the least restrictive means to advance the individual’s health” and let the state restrict abortion if a physician believes “the fetus has a significant likelihood of survival outside the uterus with reasonable measures.”

The deadline to register to vote for the August election has passed, but voters have until Oct. 10 to register for the Nov. 7 election, which will have more issues or candidates to vote on that vary by county.

Ohio State students will not return to campus by the Tuesday election, but will be well into classes come November. Rules for casting votes changed earlier this year and may especially affect students.

Ohio voters can no longer present a utility bill or bank statement at the polls to prove residency. Instead, only an unexpired Ohio photo ID, U.S. passport or passport card or military ID card are acceptable. 

House Bill 458, which altered this rule, also changed the time limit for absentee ballots, which now must be requested by 5 p.m., at least seven days before the election. When mailed back, ballots will be counted if they are postmarked the day before the election ends or if returned in person to the county board of elections before polls close on Election Day. 

For more information on voting in by county, checking voter registration or requesting an absentee ballot, visit the Ohio Secretary of State website.