Ohioans have voted against a proposal to raise the threshold needed to amend the state's constitution from a simple majority of the state's voters to 60%. If Issue 1 passed, it would have also increased the petitioning requirement to get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. Although the text of the proposal did not specifically address abortion, the issue became a proxy for the nationwide debate over reproductive rights. Last month, state officials announced that a separate ballot measure that would establish “a fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in the state constitution had gathered enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The abortion amendment would give individuals the right to make their own reproductive health care decisions, including on contraception, fertility treatment, abortion and miscarriage care, until a fetus is viable outside the womb. If Issue 1 passed, 60% of Ohioans would need to vote for the measure to pass. Since it did not pass, only a simple majority is needed. In Ohio, support for abortion being legal in most or all cases was at 59% among midterm voters last year, according to AP VoteCast. Out-of-state money has poured into both sides of the contest over the 60% threshold, even as both supporters and opponents say one of their main goals is to keep special interests from having more influence over state policy than average Ohioans. The campaign in favor of Issue 1, Protect Our Constitution, has told voters that raising the threshold will keep deep-pocketed interest groups from pushing redistricting, gun control and minimum wage policies on Ohio. One Person One Vote, the opposition campaign, argued that raising the threshold for passing future amendments would prioritize the interests of Ohio's increasingly conservative GOP supermajority at the statehouse over those of everyday voters.