The constitutional amendment approved Tuesday will let judges remain on the bench until the end of the year in which they turn 75. That’s five years longer than currently allowed.

Statewide, it narrowly passed, 2,420,168 to 2,336,215 votes. Butler County voters rejected it, 46,181 to 42,779.

Passage of the ballot measure means Republican Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Saylor won’t have to retire next month, and Democratic Justice Max Baer won’t have to step down at the end of next year.

The measure went before voters this spring, but lawmakers invalidated the results shortly before primary voters narrowly turned it down.

The wording was later changed so that the ballot wouldn’t explicitly say the change would extend the age.