25 Ohio counties supported abortion Tuesday, 41 backed marijuana. See the map

Cuyahoga County at 74% approval, followed by Franklin at 73%, Athens at 72% and Summit at 65%, led the state in passing Issue 1. There are 93,183 outstanding absentee and provisional ballots left to count.

At the other end, only a quarter or fewer voters approved the abortion rights amendment in Holmes, Shelby, Mercer and Putnam counties.

A majority of voters in 25 counties (three more than the 22 that defeated Issue 1 in August) supported the constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion and women’s reproductive health.

Issue 1: Ohioans voted to enshrine access to abortion, other reproductive rights in the state constitution

Support for Issue 2, which forces the reluctant GOP leadership in the General Assembly to pass, if even temporarily, a law legalizing marijuana, was supported by 41 counties.

Marijuana legalization got the highest support in Athens (69%), Franklin (68%), Cuyahoga (67%), Hamilton (66%), Lucas (61%) and Summit (60%) counties. Only two counties – Holmes and Putnam – had less than a third of voters in support of Issue 2.

Issue 2: Ohio votes to legalize recreational weed, making it the 24th state to legalize adult-use marijuana

Marijuana legalization received significantly more support compared to abortion rights in rural swaths of southern and western Ohio, where counties finished with at least a 10 percentage point difference between the two issues.

Urban counties, while backing both issues, gave more enthusiastic support to the abortion rights amendment. The biggest percentage point differences in favor of Issue 1, compared to Issue 2, were in Cuyahoga (8% more voting for abortion than marijuana), Franklin (5.1% more) and Summit (5%) counties.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Election 2023: Which Ohio counties supported Issue 1, Issue 2?