BEREA, Ohio — With the first week of early voting complete, a new Baldwin Wallace University Ohio Pulse Poll shows strong support for ballot Issues 1 and 2 dealing with abortion and marijuana.
Issue 1 is the ballot question that, among other things, looks to amend the state constitution, granting all individuals the final say over their own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion, while prohibiting the state from interfering with those decisions or penalizing Ohioans for making or aiding in them. A yes vote establishes that into law. A no vote would allow the state to continue to create legislation related to abortion and other reproductive health actions.
The BW CRI Ohio Pulse Poll shows 58% of likely voters for the November 7 election favor passage of Issue 1, which is favored by 89% of Democrats, 39% of Republicans and 51% of independents. In addition, 65% of parents, 54% of gun owners and 37% of evangelicals support Issue 1. Only 8% of respondents were undecided.
A similar majority of 57% said they plan to vote yes on Issue 2, which would legalize recreational use of marijuana. Just 7% of respondents were undecided.
Majorities across most demographic groups support Issue 2, including 66% of Democrats, 50% of Republicans, 59% of independents, 70% of parents and 71% of respondents ages 18-49.
“The majorities of respondents in these demographics favoring Issue 1 and Issue 2 indicate a strong likelihood of a majority vote for both ballot issues in November,” said Dr. Tom Sutton, political science professor and director of the BW CRI.
Voter turnout for November 7 looks to be strong, with interest in participating in the upcoming election high. Some 67% of respondents said they were "certain to vote" on November 7, while 18% said they would "probably vote."
“Issue 1 and Issue 2 are personal for many Ohioans, which means that we can expect voter turnout will be much higher than usual for an off-year election only involving voting for local offices,” said Sutton.
The poll also looked at the favorability of President Biden and former President Trump, Ohio Senators JD Vance and Sherrod Brown, and the three men presently vying for the GOP nomination to challenge Brown next November.
Ohio voters view former President Donald Trump more favorably than the sitting President, with 38% seeing President Joe Biden as "very favorable/somewhat favorable," versus 47% taking the same view of former President Trump.
Ohio U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown garnered a 44% favorability rating, while Senator J.D. Vance was rated favorably by just 36% of respondents.
Candidates for the Republican nomination to run against Senator Brown next year need to increase name recognition. The "not familiar" option was chosen by 61% of respondents for Bernie Moreno, 56% of respondents for Matt Dolan and 43% of respondents for Frank LaRose.
Looking for more info on Issue 1? Watch this Decision 2023 forum:
