COLUMBUS, Ohio (NEWSnet/AP) — Ohio concludes a hastily called and highly charged special election Tuesday, a contest that could determine the fate of abortion rights in the state and fuel national political playbooks for 2024.

Officially on the ballot is Issue 1, a proposal to raise the threshold for passing future changes to the state's constitution from a simple majority to 60%.

But the implications are what then happens for a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that calls for enshrining access to reproductive care.

The August Issue 1 was clearly resonating with voters, who turned out in huge numbers during the early voting period, which ended Sunday. The number of advance ballots cast — a combination of mail and early in-person ballots — hit nearly 700,000, more than double the early vote during the state's two previous midterm primary elections in 2022 and 2018.

Ohio's August elections have historically focused on local issues and been plagued with chronically low turnout. Lawmakers voted just last year to scrap August elections; but later reinstated the special election date.

Out-of-state money has poured into both sides of the Issue 1 contest, even as both supporters and opponents say one of their main goals is to keep special interests from having more influence over state policy.

But abortion rights are at the epicenter of the fight, as Ohio and other states have been given control of their own abortion policies following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last summer. Increasing the requirements for citizen-led constitutional amendments in Ohio could make it difficult, if not impossible, for the fall proposal to succeed.

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.

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