Ohio voters approved Issue 3 on Tuesday, Nov. 3, placing the state's photo-ID voting requirement into the Ohio Constitution.
The measure passed with about 65.88% voting yes and 34.12% voting no, according to final unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State, as reported by the Knox Pages. A total of 4,186,334 ballots were counted on the issue statewide.
The Associated Press called the race for yes on election night. As of Wednesday morning, 8,722 of Ohio's 8,834 precincts had reported, or 98.73%, according to the Mercer County Outlook.
Unofficial statewide results
| Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
Yes | 2,934,245 | 65.33% |
No | 1,556,864 | 34.67% |
Total | 4,491,109 | 100.00% |
Precincts reporting | 8,722 of 8,834 |
Vote totals reflect AP figures via the Mercer County Outlook as of Wednesday, Nov. 4. Results are unofficial until the Secretary of State certifies them, which typically occurs about three weeks after the election.
What it means for New Albany and Gahanna voters
The amendment takes effect immediately. It adds a new Section 5 to Article V of the Ohio Constitution, according to the Secretary of State's certified materials.
Day-to-day voting will not change right away. Ohio has required government-issued photo ID at the polls since a 2023 law (House Bill 458). The amendment makes that requirement harder to repeal. Changing a constitutional provision requires another statewide vote, according to WTOL.
The Columbus Dispatch reported that the passage "won't change anything on a practical level."
The amendment also allows lawmakers to decide whether to require photo ID for mail-in voting. Absentee voters can still use a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number under current law, but the amendment does not permanently guarantee that alternative.
How the debate played out
Republican Treasurer Robert Sprague said in a statement after the vote, "Election security is important not just for the current times, but also for the future, and this will make sure that photo ID is always there for our elections no matter who's in office," the Dispatch reported.
Supporters said putting the requirement in the Constitution protects election integrity. Opponents said it could prevent Ohio from modernizing its voting laws, according to 13abc.
The General Assembly placed the amendment on the ballot through Senate Joint Resolution 10, a Republican-sponsored resolution that passed in June. Both gubernatorial candidates, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton, supported the measure, according to Fox 8.
Gahanna residents also faced 10 proposed city charter amendments on the ballot, covering topics from mayoral primary elections to nondiscrimination provisions, the Columbus Dispatch reported before the election.
Franklin County precinct-level results for New Albany and Gahanna were not available in the sources reviewed. Full certified results are expected about three weeks after Nov. 3 from the Secretary of State's office.
