NRAF Challenges New Gerrymandered Ohio Maps In Court
For Immediate Release
October 5, 2023
Contact
Brooke Lillard
lillard@redistrictingaction.org
NRAF Challenges New Gerrymandered Ohio Maps In Court
Ohio’s New State Legislative Maps Among The Nation’s Most Extreme Gerrymanders
Washington, D.C. — The newly redrawn state legislative maps in Ohio rank among the most extreme gerrymanders in the nation and are being challenged in court for violating both the spirit and the letter of the state constitution by a group of Ohio voters. The new maps are even more egregiously gerrymandered than the previous decade’s maps which spurred a constitutional amendment reforming the state’s redistricting process. The maps fall exceedingly short of the constitutionally required proportional representation of Ohio voters. The legal challenge to the Ohio map is being supported by National Redistricting Action Fund (NRAF), the 501(c)(4) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC).
“The proposed legislative maps are an even more extreme gerrymander than their predecessors which were ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court,” said John Bisognano, President of the NRAF. “They fail to accurately represent Ohio and fall extremely short of the expectation voters had when they enacted constitutional reforms to the redistricting process. There are simply not enough Democratic seats drawn in either chamber to meet the state constitution’s partisan fairness requirement. With these maps, the will of the people is completely subverted by the map-drawing politicians and so we are once again challenging them in court.”
Over a year ago, the court struck down five unconstitutional gerrymanders enacted by partisans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC). But once again, the ORC adopted an extreme partisan gerrymander that, similar to its predecessors, gives Republicans a double-digit advantage over and beyond Ohio voters’ statewide preferences.
During the 2020 presidential election, President Biden won 46% of the two-way vote which would be proportional to roughly 15 seats in the Ohio Senate and 46 seats in the Ohio House. Yet on the new maps even by winning every single competitive seat, Democrats would be limited to merely 10 seats (30%) in the State Senate and 38 seats (38%) in the State House. In the 33-seat Senate, 17 seats are needed for the majority, while 50 are needed in the 99-seat House.
The filing can be found HERE.
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