Younger Ohioans are registering to vote in big numbers after U.S. Supreme Court abortion ruling

There’s been a flood of people registering to vote since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health in June striking down the right to abortion. Even though this midterm year with a Democratic president was predicted to be good for Republicans, the data in Ohio and some other states is suggesting something else.

Ohio’s voter registration form doesn’t ask for gender. So Tom Bonier at the Democratic political data company TargetSmart said they use commercially available databases to derive educated guesses at gender.

He estimates Ohio women are leading men in registering to vote by double digits.

“Prior to June 24, when you look at the new registrants in Ohio, they're roughly even between women and men, which is generally what you would expect to see," Bonier said in an interview for "The State of Ohio". "After Dobbs, women have an 11 point gender gap advantage over men among new registrants.”

That's been the case in other states too, said Bonier. He said women voters signed up in big numbers after the ruling. In early August, Kansas voters resoundingly rejected a ballot issue to restrict abortion rights 59%-41%.