I assume they're only referring to when abortion was voted on by itself, not when it was a package deal with a politician (since pretty much all Republicans are gonna be anti-choice).
Because these sheep vote for a letter next to their name. But an issue on a ballot may be backed by them but it doesn't have a letter itself, so people actually turn into individuals a bit more
Just happened in Ohio. If there were a candidate called "R-issue 1" he would have won with 53% of the vote. But since it was just "Issue 1" and it affected people, they struck it down 43-57 for-against