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Hope remains among Ohio Republican Party to defeat Issues 1 and 2 in November election

 An American flag waves in the breeze next to a sign directing Ohioans to vote.
Samantha Hendrickson
/
AP
An American flag waves in the breeze next to a sign directing Ohioans to vote inside Tharp Sixth Grade School, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023 in Hilliard, Ohio. It’s the final day that Ohio citizens can vote in a GOP-rushed special election on whether to make the state constitution harder to amend, likely having direct impact on abortion rights in the state

Early in-person voting in Ohio for November's election begins next week. Partisans and advocates are working to get voters out to decide the fate of amendments regarding abortion rights and marijuana legalization for recreational use.

Alex Triantafilou, chair of the Ohio Republican Party, says the party is taking its message to voters to defeat Issues 1 and 2.

"We are organizing just about every single day with a grassroots effort of talking to voters, hitting them, knocking on their doors, calling their phones and making sure that the Republican base, it's kind of our goal here, is turned out to vote in this election, and understanding what's at stake here on something as important as abortion,” Triantafilou said.

Triantafilou points out that despite a defeat in August on a 60% threshold to amend the Ohio constitution, enthusiasm remains high among Republicans.

"For our voters in Ohio, we think it's a pretty clear choice,” said Triantafilou. “We have not seen a dampening of enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, I might even say that you've seen more enthusiasm, given the importance of this issue after the August failure." 

He says many grassroots volunteers are from churches, and the Ohio GOP is relying heavily on their efforts to defeat both amendments.

"Our grassroots teams are supremely energized around this,” says Triantafilou. “We hope to see again campaign advertising on television that comes from the issue campaign. But I can tell you on our side, among our party faithful, I was just in Ashtabula County (and) Muskingum County over the weekend. You know, our people are excited to get out and vote and push back on this amendment." 

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. election is Oct. 10. Early in-person voting is scheduled to start on Oct. 11.

Liz Walters, chair of the Ohio Democratic Party, spoke to WOSU last week about what Democrats are doing ahead of the November election.

Debbie Holmes has worked at WOSU News since 2009. She has hosted All Things Considered, since May 2021. Prior to that she was the host of Morning Edition and a reporter.