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In what both sides well-understood was a proxy fight on abortion, Ohio voters last week resoundingly rejected an effort to make it more difficult for a reproductive rights’ constitutional amendment, slated to be on the ballot in November, to pass. Issue
anywhere in the ballot, issue one would have applied to a referendum in the fall when voters will be asked whether to enshrine abortion protections in the state's constitution. ali vitali is in columbus, ohio, this morning. good morning. what has the response been like there today? >> reporter: well, look, we watched already republicans trying to brace for what could come down if issue one failed. i actually talked to the secretary of state in ohio yesterday, just before polls closed. he is someone who very directly linked abortion access and issue one at the ballot box and this is what he said just minutes after he voted. watch. >> no. it is better to fight and lose than never fight at all when it is a worthwhile cause. i can tell you this, i think it will succeed because i think ohioans value protecting their constitution. it is easy after an election to go back and say what could have been done differently or whatever. i can tell you this, the other side has spent a lot more money than we have spent.
they thought that this was a way to make it harder to put abortion protections into the state's constitution. it's important to look at that 57% number, which is how much this measure failed by. 57% still overwhelmingly resounding in terms of the results. it also speaks to the reason why in the first place republicans wanted to make the threshold 60%, even in a high turnout election like this one where millions of people voted despite it being in the middle of august, you're still only seeing 57%, which, again, is resounding and clear but underscores why republicans wanted to change the thresholds here in the first place. >> so congresswoman edwards, your reaction to this outcome, this clean sweep, seven states out of seven votes. >> i think what it shows is that abortion is still a powerful and motivating issue for voters that nothing has cooled since the dobbs decision, and that every time republicans try to do a
own health care decisions. the evidence keeps piling up related to abortion rights. look what happened not too far back in kansas. the state supreme court in wisconsin getting a democrat judge to help fill out the court there as well. looking ahead to 2024, democratic activists right now are looking to as many as ten states where they want to put abortion protections on the ball lot in some form which could surge their voters, including states like arizona where it's not going to be just a key presidential race, senate race, but florida another state that could see this on the ballot. >> katie, how do you keep this momentum going into november? >> we're just so excited that we finally get to vote yes no. we didn't want to have this special election. this was forced on us by our republican supermajority state legislature. they charged us as taxpayers close to $20 million to hold the
this issue. florida, another one of those states where this could be a difference maker in some ways. >> it's going to be interesting, the presidential election, in donald trump ends up being the nominee. while donald trump created the conditions to overturn roe v. wade, he put the justices in place that made the decision. he has not been vocal about it on the campaign trail the way that some of the other candidates have been. he hasn't said there should be an x week ban on abortions federally. he's not going that far. so, peter, does the white house have an idea of how, if it is donald trump, how they're going to go after him on this issue. have they started strategizing that? >> i don't know that they have started strategizing that. to your point they feel strongly that the former president's position, the issue of republicans on this issue is clear having put in place three of the justices, the conservative justices that allowed for the overturning of roe v. wade here, so i think they think this is a winning issue. among other things, it benefits the white house, the president, candidate biden for 2024.
sounded the alarm about comments the former president made on the trail and on social media. major? >> major: a key word in that memo: deprive. robert costa, thank you. we turn now to a closely watched battle over abortion. supporters of abortion rights in ohio are claiming victory after voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot measure that would have made it more difficult to add abortion protections to the state's constitution. cbs's caitlin huey-burns reports on the political impact of the vote. >> ohio, we did it. we did it! [cheers and applause] >> reporter: voter turnout far exceeded expectations for a summer special election that sent a message across the country. >> they underestimated ohio. [cheers] and they have awakened a sleeping giant. >> reporter: at issue, whether to raise the threshold to amend the state constitution from a simple majority i'm a 50% plus one vote, to 60%. republicans, including secretary of state frank larose come had hoped to implement the change ahead
for headlines. >> a shark attack, another one? >> carley: yes, ainsley. this is brand new overnight. a woman is in critical condition after being bitten by a shark while swimming off the coast of queens, new york. the victim was already unconscious when emergency crews arrived, presumably from shock or blood loss. this is the sixth shark attack reported in new york so far just this summer. the polls open in less than oh boy 10 minutes in ohio where voters are deciding whether to make it more difficult to change the state's constitution. if approved, the amendment would increase the threshold to pass future ballot initiatives from a simple majority to 60%. democrats argue it's designed to make it more difficult to implement abortion protections this november. republicans say it will make it harder for out-of-state special interest groups to influence policy in the buckeye state. a busy day this tuesday morning, guys. over to you. >> brian: thanks so much. appreciate it. meanwhile, homeless migrants cry
one were to pass today, it would make it so it requires a 60% threshold of a vote to change the ohio constitution. but this is a proxy battle. make no mistake. you'll see on the screen there, the august 8th election is about the constitution. but it comes ahead of a november election that would enshrine rights to abortion protections to the ohio constitution and it comes frankly after we saw republican legislators in the state say, we're good, no more august elections, and then they popped this one up ahead of november. many people saying, thinking this says the quiet part out loud, we have seen trends across the country in red states after the dobbs decision by the supreme court and we have seen voters continue to, regardless of party affiliation, side on the side of making abortion more accessible and safe. it is unclear whether or not ohio voters are going to do the same thing. but this is the latest test in the post dobbs environment, especially in red states across the country. >> and so, what are you hearing from voters there?
>> reporter: it's a great question. i think the timing is the thing that's the most important in the conversations i've been having with people on both sides of issue one. it seems to be a clear and direct reminder that there is going to be come november an attempt to enshrine abortion protections into the ohio constitution. now republicans are coming back around after having gotten rid of august special elections, putting this one on the ballot to try and raise the threshold of what it takes to raise the question. those who say this is the right move, say it's an attempt to keep outside money outside of ohio politics, advocates of abortion and other freedoms say this is an attempt to roll back what voters votes count as in the middle of the game. what's so important is the way republicans are sort of saying the quiet part out loud including the secretary of state saying this is in his words, quote, 100% about abortion and
here. >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right. even though, technically, voters are going to the polls today to vote on the rules how they change their constitution, in theory, they're actually voting ahead to the november amendment vote that you're talking about right there about abortion protections. this is something that ohio republican legislators had initially said we're good, no more august special elections. then when reproductive rights groups were able to get the requisite number of signatures that they needed to get the abortion right on the ballot in november, they said we're going to do one more special election and that's here today about the rules of changing a constitution. right now, all it takes is a majority. a 60% threshold. republicans, though, are not uniformly decided that this is the best strategy, though. but it is clear for all of them, abortion is the underpinning here. i want to pull up what the secretary of state himself, a republican, also running for