Independent vote in Ohio converted ordinary people (3,6)
I believe the answer is:
hoi polloi
'ordinary people' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'independent vote in ohio converted' is the wordplay.
'independent' becomes 'i'.
'vote' becomes 'poll' (polling is a kind of voting**).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'converted' is an anagram indicator.
'i'+'poll'='ipoll'
'ohio' with letters rearranged gives 'hooi'.
'ipoll' inserted within 'hooi' is 'HOI POLLOI'.
(Other definitions for hoi polloi that I've seen before include "The common people - in Greece" , "The plain people in Greece" , "ordinary people" , "The common people generally" , "vulgar rabble" .)