ISSUE 1 Fails at the Ballot With Staggeringly Low Voter Turnout

Yesterday, Issue 1 which saw to change how Columbus City Council worked, with a new system of ward-based council has failed.

According to Represent Columbus, the pro-issue 1 group has said it was massively outspent in the days leading up to the ballot.

Jonathan Beard, the co-chair of Represent Columbus has said that it is an, “issue of money versus the people.”

Ben Garbarek, political reporter for ABC6 had this to say on twitter,

Final numbers are in. 9% of people voted. The No vote on wards more than doubled the Yes vote. Wards had 2X # signatures than votes.

— Ben Garbarek (@BenWSYX6) August 3, 2016

With reports through the night on low voter turnout, the revelation that the actual petition had double the signatures than votes doesn’t bode well for the issue in the future.

On the victory, James Ragland of One Columbus said, “We’ve always felt like Issue 1 was a no go because of the way it was presented. We really do feel like if that many people are speaking about some changes that need to be made that we have to respond in a responsible fashion.”

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