Ohio Republicans Ignore Another Court-Imposed Deadline, Question State Supreme Court’s Authority to Hold Them Accountable
For Immediate Release
August 18, 2022
Contact
Jena Doyle
doyle@redistrictingaction.org
Ohio Republicans Ignore Another Court-Imposed Deadline, Question State Supreme Court’s Authority to Hold Them Accountable
Washington, D.C. -- Today marks the deadline for Ohio’s Republican-led General Assembly to pass a new congressional map that complies with the Ohio Constitution, as ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court. As of this hour, the General Assembly Republicans have yet to even produce a map, and they have refused to negotiate with their Democratic colleagues. This puts Ohio Republicans on track to fail to meet the Court’s deadline, handing the process to the Republican-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission, which will now have until September 17 to redraw the congressional map. The new map would be used for the 2024 election.
The Court’s order is a result of a lawsuit 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. Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down Ohio’s second congressional map as a partisan gerrymander. The map, passed by the Republican-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission in March, made only limited changes to the state’s original congressional map, which was 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.
“Despite having 30 days to do their jobs, Republicans in the Ohio General Assembly have done nothing to prepare a new congressional map. This follows their consistent pattern of ignoring clear and even-handed rulings from the Ohio Supreme Court, the Ohio State Constitution, and the will of the people,” said Brent Ferguson, Senior Counsel for the NRAF. “Every single map enacted by Ohio Republicans has been deemed a partisan gerrymander and struck down for violating the state constitution by a bipartisan majority — Republicans and Democrats — on the state’s highest court.”
Twenty-four hours before the deadline, Senate President Matt Huffman questioned the Ohio Supreme Court’s authority to intervene when the legislature violates the state constitution by drawing partisan gerrymanders. Not only is his theory at odds with basic tenets of American democracy—like the system of checks and balances across three branches of government—but it also conflicts with Huffman’s own position: In 2018, he supported the very reforms to the Ohio Constitution that specifically authorize the state Supreme Court to review the redistricting maps.
“Ohioans know Republicans’ repeated attempts to ignore the state constitution are dishonest and wrong, and they know it does not reflect the reforms they overwhelmingly supported to ensure they would get fair maps. They deserve better than this,” continued Ferguson.###