Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Late last night, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down gerrymandered state legislative maps adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission on February 24, 2022. The court found the invalid maps were drawn to unduly favor the Republican party and thus violated Ohio’s new redistricting rules added to the Ohio Constitution in 2015.

The Fair Districts Ohio coalition rejects the claim that the latest congressional map adopted along party lines by the Ohio Redistricting Commission meets the requirements set forth in the Ohio Constitution.

“It doesn’t make sense to put the cart before the horse,” said Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio Executive Director. “Scheduling an election before voting maps are in place, before districts are in place simply causes confusion. Ohio is not ready to start planning for an accurate election until we have fair maps in place.” 

“Once again, the majority members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission have shown that they would rather fail an assignment than actually do their homework. Failing to produce fair maps isn’t an option, no matter how many times they may try."

Today, Fair Districts Ohio sent a letter to the Ohio Redistricting Commission asking that they deliver fair maps for the state House, Senate, and Congressional districts by the mandated deadlines.

"Today’s ruling is clear: gerrymandered maps have no place in the state of Ohio."