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    Ohio Voters Reject Ban on Partisan Gerrymanders

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    Voters in Ohio rejected a ban on partisan gerrymandering of state legislative and congressional districts on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, after a ferocious battle that included accusations of political trickery.The Ohio ban was perhaps the most closely watched in an unusually consequential list of democracy-related issues presented to voters in ballot initiatives and amendments to state constitutions.Before the proposed amendment appeared on voters’ ballots, polls showed that the idea had broad approval among the state’s voters. But Republicans, who dominate Ohio politics, pushed back, crafting what critics called a misleading summary of the proposal that appeared on the ballots. It said the measure would establish a “taxpayer funded” commission that would be “required to gerrymander the boundaries of state legislative and congressional districts.”The Ohio Supreme Court’s four Republicans voted to uphold the language; the three Democrats voted to strike it down. More

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      New Yorkers Pass an Equal Rights Amendment Tied to Abortion Access

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      A ballot measure in New York designed to safeguard protections for abortion and for those most vulnerable to discrimination was passed on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.The measure, known as Proposition 1 and the Equal Rights Amendment, was intended to codify abortion rights in the State Constitution by including “pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes and reproductive health care and autonomy” as a protected class.The amendment bars discrimination based on an expanded set of conditions, adding ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and pregnancy. The State Constitution had only prohibited unequal treatment based on race, color, creed and religion.The measure was fiercely opposed by Republicans and anti-abortion activists including a Schlitz beer scion, who spent $6.5 million to defeat it. It was also opposed by the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, which warned that its protections against gender discrimination could create challenges for law enforcement.Democrats had hoped that the ballot initiative would help boost turnout by energizing voters who care about abortion rights. Public sentiment in New York appeared to be on the ballot’s side: A recent Siena College poll shows that some 69 percent of New Yorkers approve of the amendment.Republicans blanketed the airwaves with messaging against the proposal.Some of the most heated attacks centered on the protections the amendment would offer to transgender people — particularly transgender girls, who many Republicans believe should not be allowed to play on sports teams with cisgender girls.Much like abortion, protections for transgender people already exist in New York State law. The purpose of the amendment is to make it harder for any future legislature to make laws that would erode those protections.But opponents said the initiative would go further, claiming that it would allow children to obtain gender-affirming care without parental involvement and extend voting rights to undocumented immigrants. Neither is true, according to the New York City Bar Association. More

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      In Nebraska, Separate Referendums on Abortion Create Confusion for Voters

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      On Tuesday, voters in Nebraska will be presented with dueling measures on abortion. While abortion is on the ballot in nearly a dozen states, and recent polling data appears to show support for measures that protect abortion rights, in Nebraska having two measures to choose from means many voters are simply confused.Referendum 434 would enshrine the existing 12-week abortion ban in the state constitution, banning abortion in the second and third trimesters, with exceptions for sexual assault, incest or medical emergencies. The constitutional protections would make it more difficult for these restrictions to be rolled back in the future.Referendum 439 would effectively allow abortions into the second trimester by creating a right to abortion “until fetal viability.”Many voters are having trouble parsing the wording on ballots as well as mixing up which measure aligns with their views. Local news outlets have offered lengthy explainers, and billboards and ads have tried to demystify the measures.But some advertising has offered such misleading information about Nebraska’s current abortion restrictions that last week the State Department of Health and Human Services issued an alert clarifying the current law, which passed in 2023 and limits most abortions after 12 weeks. The state’s chief medical officer did not specify which ads were misleading.A new ad featuring six female University of Nebraska athletes supporting abortion restrictions set off controversy; university officials told media outlets the athletes were exercising their First Amendment rights.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Mega-Donors Pour $8 Million Into Late Push Against N.Y. Abortion Measure

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      A late-stage effort to defeat a New York State ballot measure that would enshrine a right to abortion into the State Constitution has been bolstered by $8 million in donations from a handful of conservative donors.The Vote No on Prop 1 political action committee received $6.5 million from Dick Uihlein, a scion of one of the founders of Schlitz beer and the founder of the shipping company Uline. Along with his wife, Mr. Uihlein has given generously to former President Donald J. Trump, as well as to groups opposed to gay and transgender rights. Last year, Mr. Uihlein spent $4 million to defeat Ohio’s abortion amendment, providing the bulk of the funding against the measure.The committee also received $1 million from Thomas J. Tisch, a financier who was a key supporter of Lee Zeldin’s unsuccessful bid for governor of New York in 2022.The late infusion of cash is expected to amplify opponents’ messaging surrounding the measure, known as the Equal Rights Amendment.Conceived of as a way to safeguard abortion after the fall of Roe v. Wade, the initiative would also expand legal protections to people based on sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability and national origin.Democrats had hoped that the ballot initiative could help boost turnout by energizing voters who care about abortion rights. Public sentiment in New York appeared to be on the ballot’s side: A recent Siena College poll shows that some 69 percent of New Yorkers approve of the amendment.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Moldova Referendum on Goal of E.U. Membership Passes by a Thin Margin

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      A referendum that constitutionally enshrines a national objective to join the E.U. passed by a thin margin. The incumbent pro-E.U. president won the most votes in a concurrent election, but faces a runoff.A referendum in Moldova intended to put an end to decades of swerving between East and West yielded a microscopic win on Monday for voters who favor amending the Constitution to lock in alignment with Europe rather than Russia.The result of the referendum held Sunday was so tight, and the mandate for an irreversible path to Europe so thin, that Moldova, a former Soviet Republic and one of Europe’s poorest countries, looked stuck in a mire of uncertainty over its direction.The referendum has been closely watched by Russia, the European Union and the United States. The results highlighted the deep divisions found in many formerly Soviet lands — divisions that Russia has labored to widen and, in the case of Ukraine, Moldova’s neighbor to the east, exploited to set the stage for its full-scale military invasion in February 2022.Moldova’s firmly pro-Western president, Maia Sandu, finished far ahead of 10 rival candidates in an election that was also held on Sunday but she did not win the majority needed to avoid a runoff vote on Nov. 3.In a statement Monday afternoon, she declared victory “in an unfair fight” but warned that “we can only prevent disaster” if voters turned out for the runoff.Despite a slew of advance opinion polls showing that a substantial majority wanted to break out of Russia’s orbit of influence, near-final results announced Monday afternoon by the central electoral commission gave the “Yes” vote 50.46 percent against 49.54 for “No.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Alex Salmond, Scotland’s Former First Minister, Dies at 69

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      Mr. Salmond led the Scottish National Party twice, guiding it from a fringe political group into a powerful electoral force in Britain.Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland who campaigned for the country to leave the United Kingdom and led the nation during an independence referendum, has died at 69.Mr. Salmond, who as first minister led the Scottish government from 2007 to 2014, died after delivering a speech in North Macedonia on Saturday, the BBC reported. Mr. Salmond had led the Scottish National Party twice, guiding it from a fringe political group into a powerful force that won an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament in 2011. It was a push for Scotland’s political independence that had propelled his own career, and he was the nation’s first pro-independence first minister.That movement fractured after a failed independence referendum and a multiyear saga in which Mr. Salmond was accused of multiple sexual assaults and eventually acquitted. But Mr. Salmond continued to campaign for the cause until his death, and his influence in British politics persisted after he stepped down as first minister.Keir Starmer, the prime minister of Britain, paid tribute to Mr. Salmond, calling him a “monumental figure of Scottish and U.K. politics” for more than three decades.“He leaves behind a lasting legacy,” Mr. Starmer said. “As first minister of Scotland, he cared deeply about Scotland’s heritage, history and culture as well as the communities he represented as M.P. and M.S.P. over many years of service.”Mr. Salmond served as a member of the British Parliament in Westminster, as an M.P., from 1987 to 2010 and again from 2015 to 2017, as well as serving as a member of the Scottish Parliament, or M.S.P.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Florida Health Agency Targets Abortion Rights Ballot Measure

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      The Florida agency charged with regulating health care providers, including abortion clinics, publicly opposed a proposed ballot amendment that would guarantee abortion rights, a move that critics say is unethical and also, perhaps, a violation of state law.“Florida Is Protecting Life,” reads the top of a website by the Agency for Health Care Administration. “Don’t let the fearmongers lie to you.”The declaration, which was promoted on the social media platform X on Thursday by Jason Weida, the agency secretary, claims that the proposed amendment, known as Amendment 4, “threatens women’s safety.” It lists several examples of what it says is the “truth” about the amendment’s effects, using language typically employed by campaigns in favor of or against a ballot question. The website also includes data on political donations to the pro-amendment campaign.The website seems to be an aggressive move by the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis against the ballot measure, which would allow abortions in Florida “before viability,” usually up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Polls suggest that a majority of Florida voters favor the measure, though it would need more than 60 percent support to pass in November.Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, has vowed to defeat the measure and has been raising money in a political committee against Amendment 4. But Governor DeSantis is an elected official. Mr. Weida, his appointed secretary, is not, nor are other agency employees.“You’re not supposed to use your position in state government for electioneering,” said State Representative Anna V. Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, adding that the agency “crossed a line.” “If you’re going to do electioneering, you’ve got to provide a financial disclosure. There’s all sorts of question marks here.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump Says He’ll Vote Against Florida’s Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash

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      Former President Donald J. Trump said on Friday that he would vote against a ballot measure in Florida that would expand abortion access in the state, clarifying his stance after having suggested a day earlier that he might support the measure.“I’ll be voting no,” Mr. Trump told Fox News, even as he said he disagreed with his home state’s current ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.Passage of the ballot measure, called Amendment 4, would allow patients to seek an abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy.In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Mr. Trump, who had long avoided taking a firm position on the measure, said he was “going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.” His campaign promptly sought to clean up those remarks, saying in a statement that they were not indicative of how he would vote in November.His comments were also met with backlash from social conservatives and abortion opponents. Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading anti-abortion group, said Mr. Trump would be undermining a long-held opposition to abortions after five months of pregnancy if he voted for the measure.“We strongly support Florida’s current heartbeat law,” Ms. Dannenfelser said in a statement, adding that she had also spoken privately with the former president. “For anyone who believes in drawing a different line, they still must vote against Amendment 4, unless they don’t want a line at all.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Montana Certifies Signatures for November Abortion Question

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      Also on Tuesday, Arizona’s Supreme Court rejected a challenge to a similar ballot measure. That means at least nine states will vote on whether to establish a constitutional right to abortion.Voters in Montana will decide in November whether to enshrine a right to abortion in the state Constitution, joining eight other states with similar citizen-sponsored questions on their ballots.Montana’s secretary of state sent an email late Tuesday to the coalition of abortion rights groups sponsoring the measure, certifying that they had collected enough valid signatures to place it on the ballot. The coalition had submitted more than 117,000 signatures, nearly double the 60,039 required and the most submitted for a ballot measure in Montana history.And in Arizona — which, like Montana, was facing a Thursday deadline to certify its ballots — the state’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal late Tuesday from anti-abortion groups trying to strike a similar measure that the secretary of state there had approved last week. The justices, all appointed by Republicans, said that their decision did not signal support for the measure, only that they did not agree with the technical objection raised by the anti-abortion groups about the language used on ballot petitions.National Democrats and abortion rights groups are pouring money into ballot measures in both states in the hopes that they can drive turnout to help the Democrats running for the Senate, where the party holds a razor-thin majority. In Montana, Senator Jon Tester is perhaps the party’s most endangered incumbent.Abortion remains legal in Montana until viability — the point when a fetus can survive outside the uterus, generally around 24 weeks of pregnancy — because of a 1999 state Supreme Court decision that said the right to privacy in the state Constitution included a right to “procreative autonomy.”Advocates say the measure is necessary to prevent future members of the court, who are elected, from reversing that decision. And the state’s Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, and the Republican-controlled Legislature have repeatedly tried to ban or restrict abortion.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More