Young Ohioans helped pass abortion rights, legal marijuana. Will they turn out in 2024?

Brianna Mack's phone was ringing off the hook when last week's election results came in.

Mack teaches political science at Ohio Wesleyan University, and she said students flooded her phone with emails when Ohioans approved Issue 1 and Issue 2. The next day, all they wanted to talk about in class was the outcome. The energy was palpable.

Over at Ohio State University, poll monitors with the League of Women Voters of Ohio said the Ohio Union's polling location was busier than ever.

It's too early to say how many young voters − generally defined as Ohioans 18 to 29 − participated in the Nov. 7 election. But exit polling shows they helped get the abortion rights amendment and recreational marijuana law across the finish line.

"We don’t want our future kids and generations to have fewer rights than we did," said Nick Linder, chief of staff for Ohio State's College Democrats.

Representatives for Ohio Young Republicans and the University of Cincinnati College Republicans did not respond to interview requests.

Voters under 30 surveyed in a CNN exit poll approved the abortion amendment 77-23%, while 84% of Ohioans in that age group said yes to Issue 2, the marijuana law. The measures were also popular with voters ages 30 to 44, most of whom are considered millennials.

Looking ahead to 2024, Gen Z could play a key role in electing the next president and deciding whether Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, gets reelected to the U.S. Senate. Over 8 million people nationwide have become eligible to vote since the 2022 election, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement.

But it remains to be seen whether enthusiasm for the abortion and marijuana issues will translate to the 2024 election.

What motivated young voters in 2023 elections?

The Nov. 7 election, along with the August special election, resonated with young voters for a few reasons.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year was a big one. Eryka Harper, who served as a youth representative on the League's board, said young voters saw that ruling and the decision to strike down affirmative action as attacks on their civil liberties. She said frustration has been growing ever since.

“It’s not just, young people want to smoke weed and get abortions," Harper said. "I think it’s a lot deeper than that."

The Aug. 8 election also primed young voters for the issues on the November ballot, Mack said. In that election, Ohio voters rejected a measure to make it harder to amend the state constitution. The proposal aimed to erect obstacles for the abortion rights amendment, along with future progressive ballot questions, and observers say young voters made the connection.

Young voters remain an elusive bunch, even when engagement seems higher than normal. About 21% of 18- to 30-year-old registered voters in Ohio cast ballots for the Aug. 8 election, according to data provided to the League of Women Voters by Catalist. Just 5.8% of Ohioans in that group voted in the November 2021 election, while 27% turned out in November 2022.

Voting rights organizations know there's still plenty of work ahead to get those turnout figures up. Local chapters of the League work closely with college campuses to register voters and provide them with information about how to vote. They also try to give Ohioans an opportunity to engage with democracy before they turn 18.

Ohio's new law requiring photo IDs at the polls does not allow voters to use student IDs, so many college students opt to vote absentee. Critics of the voter ID law have said it stifles participation, particularly among college-age voters who are transient and may not have an Ohio driver's license if they came from out-of-state.

"I think there is a risk of apathy towards civic participation in general that stems from the fact that our elected officials aren't listening to young people and don't make it easy for them to participate fully in our democracy," said Nazek Hapasha, the League's policy affairs manager.

Will young Ohioans turn out in 2024?

Another factor that could depress youth participation sits at the top of the ticket.

One of Mack's classes surveyed Ohio Wesleyan students and found that, if the presidential primary were tomorrow, most of them would vote for Marianne Williamson over President Joe Biden. The poll also showed more support for former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley over former President Donald Trump, who's considered the likely Republican nominee. Biden won out in the general election, but Mack said many young voters she knows aren't enthused with him.

“The younger Democratic base, they desperately want new leadership," Mack said.

So, what do young voters need to turn out in 2024? Harper said actions matter, and candidates must show they've worked on issues that are important to young Ohioans. Abortion, racial discrimination and the war between Israel and Hamas will continue to be top of mind as the election cycle heats up, she said.

Linder echoed that sentiment, saying Ohio's U.S. Senate candidates need to focus on issues instead of politics or personalities. He noted that Brown advocated for Issue 1 and said it will be important for the senator to keep talking about reproductive rights and other topics that are salient with young voters.

Brown will face the winner of the March Republican primary in his bid for a fourth term: Either Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno or state Sen. Matt Dolan, R-Chagrin Falls.

Linder also believes the proposed redistricting reform amendment − which is still far from making the ballot − has the potential to energize younger Ohioans, if the messaging is right.

“I think it’s going to be important to communicate to young people what exactly that will mean for their lives," he said.

Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio November 2023 election: Young voters back abortion, marijuana