Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Another Republican Gerrymandered Congressional Map
For Immediate Release
July 19, 2022
Contact
Jena Doyle
doyle@redistrictingaction.org
Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Another Republican Gerrymandered Congressional Map
Washington, D.C. -- Today, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down Ohio’s second congressional map as a partisan gerrymander. The map, passed by the Republican-led Ohio Redistricting Commission in March, had only limited changes from the congressional map that was originally passed by the Republicans in the state legislature in November 2021 and invalidated as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander by the Ohio Supreme Court on January 14.
“The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision today appropriately holds Republican commissioners to account for brazenly ignoring the court’s previous instruction to draw a fair congressional map,” said Marina Jenkins, Director of Litigation and Policy for the NRAF. “Ohio Republicans have continuously violated the state’s constitutional provisions requiring fair maps, ignored clear and even-handed rulings from the Ohio Supreme Court, and relentlessly tried to force unfair and undemocratic redistricting maps on the people of Ohio. At every step of the redistricting process, Republicans have disregarded the law and the will of the voters. This decision is yet another win in our fight to bring electoral fairness to Ohio.”
The Court’s order is a result of a challenge filed in March 2022 by Ohio voters supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund (NRAF) in their ongoing effort to secure a fair congressional map in Ohio. Per the order, the Ohio General Assembly now has 30 days to redraw a congressional map that will be used for the 2024 election. If the state legislature is unable to pass a new map, the Ohio Redistricting Commission will then have 30 more days to redraw the map.
Along with Ohio, in Florida, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Alabama, the NRAF and the National Redistricting Foundation (NRAF’s 501(c)(3) affiliate) are continuing to support cases fighting for fair redistricting maps ahead of the 2024 election.
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