Ohio Exit Poll Contains Insights for Pro-Lifers

Last week, CNN released the results of an exit poll that was conducted in Ohio on Election Day. This poll surveyed 3,658 Ohio voters in different locations around the state. The poll correctly predicted that 43 percent of Ohio voters would vote against Issue 1, which placed legal abortion in Ohio’s state constitution. Additionally, the demographic breakdown of the polling results provides some insights that might help pro-lifers in the future.

Second, pro-lifers did a poor job convincing swing voters to vote against Issue 1. The CNN exit poll found that only 31 percent of moderates and 36 percent of independents voted against Issue 1. Perhaps even more important, only 17 percent of people who thought abortion should be legal in most circumstances voted in opposition to issue 1. This particular subset of voters is likely sympathetic to some protective pro-life laws.

Third, parents failed to oppose Issue 1 in large numbers. The exit poll found that only 42 percent of parents with children under 18 voted against Issue 1. Men with children were somewhat more likely to oppose Issue 1 than other demographics, but women with children were actually less likely than average to oppose Issue 1. This is an important finding. A key talking point for opponents of Issue 1 was that it would endanger Ohio’s pro-life parental-involvement law. While parental-involvement laws poll well, it appears that this particular argument failed to persuade large numbers of parents to oppose Issue 1. FULL ARTICLE