Ohio voters broadly support abortion access, early exit poll of ballot measure shows

With ballots still being cast on Election Day in Ohio, as voters decide whether to add abortion protections to the state constitution, preliminary exit poll results indicate broad support for abortion access.

Voters say 61-36% that abortion should be legal rather than illegal in all or most cases, according to the preliminary exit poll.

By almost an identical divide, 60-35%, voters say they were dissatisfied or even angry rather than satisfied or enthusiastic about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion.

The early exit poll results indicated a less-lopsided margin on which political party voters trust more to handle the issue, however: Forty-nine percent pick the Democratic Party and 42% the Republican Party.

These preliminary results can change as more data comes in.

The Ohio abortion referendum, known as state Issue 1, would add a right to the state constitution to “reproductive medical treatment” and prevent bans on abortion before a fetus is viable or for the mother’s health.

The vote on Issue 1 is being watched closely to see if dissatisfaction with the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling fuels turnout among Democrats and Democratic-leaning groups. The preliminary exit poll results point in that direction, indicating both a surfeit of liberals and a shortage of voters who backed former President Donald Trump.

Ohio liberals account for 35% of voters in Tuesday’s preliminary exit poll results, up from 20% in the 2022 midterms and 21% in the 2020 presidential election. If that holds, it’ll be a record high turnout among liberals in Ohio exit polls dating back to 1984.

In line with the greater turnout by liberals, Trump 2020 voters are in comparatively short supply. Voters on Tuesday say by 47-42% that they backed Joe Biden over Trump in 2020. Trump won Ohio in that election, 53-45%.

Further, turnout among Republicans, 35% of Tuesday’s voters in the preliminary results, is down 6% compared with the 2022 midterms. That would be a low since 2012.

Turnout among other groups of interest — women, young adults, evangelical white Christians, racial and ethnic minorities — is roughly on par with past results.

Support for legal abortion in Ohio should not be a surprise: It was nearly as high, 58%, in the 2022 exit poll in the state.

Separately, the exit poll indicates broad dissatisfaction with both leading candidates in the 2024 presidential election. Seventy-two percent of voters say Tuesday they do not think Biden should be running for president. Sixty-four percent say the same of Trump.

More disapprove than approve of the way Biden is handling his job as president, 57-41%. More also say they’re worse off than better off financially compared with three years ago, 42% vs. 21%, with the rest about the same.

The Republican Party edges out the Democratic Party in trust to handle the economy, 49-42%.