NEWS
Ohio Statehouse P H OTO : N I AGA R A 6 6 , W I K I M E D I A COMMONS
Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Partisan Redistricting Maps for Fifth Time Republicans continue to push unconstitutional maps ahead of upcoming elections. BY O H I O CA P ITA L J O U R N A L STA F F
O
hio House and Senate district maps previously passed by Republican members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission and previously ruled unconstitutional remain
invalid, a bipartisan 4-3 majority on the Ohio Supreme Court ruled May 25. Declining to hold commissioners in contempt, the court ordered the Ohio Redistricting Commission be
reconstituted to draft and adopt new General Assembly maps that meet the requirements of the Ohio Constitution. The court set a new deadline of June 3. This date is past the May 28 date a federal court has set as a deadline for when it will implement the maps that were just rejected for the second time by the state high court. In between their original adoption by the commission and the court’s first rejection of them as unconstitutional, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose ordered boards of elections to load the maps into their systems and prepare to use them. Republicans on the redistricting commission used the fact that elections officials were already ordered to use the maps as part of their decision to pass the maps a second time. LaRose is among the four commissioners who voted for the maps both
times. Others were Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Republican legislative leaders representing the Ohio House and Senate (originally Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp and Senate President Matt Huffman, then their chosen replacements on the commission, state Rep. Jeff LaRe, and state Sen. Sen. Rob McColley). Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Michael P. Donnelly, Melody Stewart, and Jennifer Brunner joined the majority opinion. “The respondents who voted in favor of readopting Map 3 defend the commission’s action, arguing that Map 3 is the only viable option for use in the 2022 election cycle,” the majority wrote. “The fact remains that Map 3 still violates Article XI, Sections 6(A) and 6(B) of the Ohio Constitution.” The majority noted that they had ordered the commission to adopt an
JUNE 1, 2022 - JUNE 14, 2022
|
CITYBEAT.COM
5
