Issue 1 went down to defeat August 8 in Ohio, 57-43%, by about a 400,000-vote difference among three million cast.  The proposition would have raised requirements to amend the state constitution by initiative and referendum.  Ostensibly a technical "procedural" question, everybody knew what the immediate driver behind Issue 1 was: stopping a radical pro-abortion amendment on the November 7 ballot to ensconce abortion on demand through birth at taxpayer expense in Ohio, while stripping away parental consent and even knowledge of a minor's abortion.

The outcome was disappointing but not altogether surprising.  Pro-lifers had their work cut out for them in a late summer referendum, and the technical focus of the amendment did not easily lend itself to sound bites for the "pro" side.  They'll have to work that much harder to prevail November 7, or abortion may spread across the Midwest.

The results paradoxically proved a main argument of Issue 1 supporters: raising the requirements to gather signatures across Ohio (rather than in just 44 counties) ensured a broad-based consensus in urban, suburban, and rural areas about constitutional changes. 

Issue 1 won in 66 out of 88 counties.  The margin to defeat it was run up almost completely in northeast (around Cleveland) and northern Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Athens County.  So urban areas with blue political machines; the state capital; and college towns (Columbus is home to Ohio State, Athens to Ohio University).  Indeed, the three counties that pushed in more than 70% "no" votes were Cuyahoga (Cleveland), Franklin (Columbus/OSU), and Athens (Ohio U).  

Rhetoric about "diversity" and "inclusion" notwithstanding, the Ohio outcome is anything but.  It augurs long-term consequences with potential for Ohio's significant political transformation and possible marginalization as a "bellwether" state.

The temptation of simple majority politics by recourse to referendum will create two Ohios, separate and unequal.  It forebodes shifting power to urban and liberal centers while making the vast majority of Ohio "flyover country" even for state politicians.  Why bother with the 11,000 mentally dim in Darke County who voted "yes" for Issue 1 when you have 253,000 enlightened in Cleveland who voted "no"?  Whenever a conservative Legislature enacts a policy offensive to liberals, just organize a "get out the vote" referendum.  (PS: Do it in an off-year election, when anybody but your side might not show up and lots of out-of-state money can target your cause.)  Remember, too, the cardinal rule of politics: when conservatives win, it's live to fight another day.  When liberals win, the issue is "closed."  Move on!

Apart from its immediate consequences in the Buckeye State, however, the result on Issue 1 should worry conservatives in the long term.  Even more important than the political outcome, what does it portend for our constitutional system?

Even on the narrow, technical argument of Issue 1, the idea that changing a constitution should not occur for light or transient causes based on momentary simple majorities made basic constitutional sense.  Opponents flipped that argument, claiming that it undermined "democracy" — i.e., a majoritarian headcount.

The opposition argument and its traction among the young show the pernicious effects of the Supreme Court's revisionist history that pretends "one person, one vote" is the only really legitimate means of deciding things.  The idea that consensus (especially on important issues like changing constitutions or picking presidents) should also entail taking into account other interests is rapidly growing incomprehensible to many people.  That view — sheer numbers win — already fuels opposition to the Electoral College.  But there are already sentiments that the U.S. Senate, too, is illegitimate: how dare a half-million Wyoming deplorables have the same voice as 39 million beautiful people in California?  Doesn't that make the Connecticut Compromise, which gave us the Senate, America's second "original sin"?

Ohioans who voted to defeat Issue 1, content that the "no" votes in 22 counties could defeat the "yes" votes in 66, might find in the future that the political forces that delivered that result decide California and New York votes should cancel out Ohio's in presidential elections.  Unbelievable as it might seem, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is probably not a stopover priority for flyover scheduling.

Ohio pro-lifers have a tougher road to hoe to keep the Buckeye State pro-life this November.  But the August 8 outcome points to deeper trends all Americans need to concern themselves about.

John M. Grondelski is an independent scholar writing from Falls Church, Virginia. All views expressed are his own.

Image: BestBudBrian.