Ohio Voters Demand Accountability Again After Republican Commissioners Repeatedly Fail to do Their Jobs
For Immediate Release
May 10, 2022
Contact
Brooke Lillard
Lillard@redistrictingaction.org
Ohio Voters Demand Accountability Again After Republican Commissioners Repeatedly Fail to do Their Jobs
Washington, D.C. -- Today, Ohio voters supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund (NRAF) in Bennett v. Ohio Redistricting Commission submitted a motion to the Ohio Supreme Court, asking that the court require the Commission to explain why they failed to comply with the Court’s April 14 order, which struck down the Commission’s fourth set of state legislative maps and ordered it to draw compliant maps. The voters also are asking the court to schedule a hearing on contempt. Throughout the last eight months, the Commission has repeatedly rammed through unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders in defiance of the Ohio Supreme Court’s orders, evaded requests from Democratic members to hold public hearings, and unjustifiably delayed Commission action until the last minute prior to each deadline.
“We have reached a point where the Republican commissioners are openly defying the Court’s orders to draw a new set of state legislative maps,” said Marina Jenkins, the NRAF’s Director of Litigation and Policy. “The Republican commissioners had everything they needed to pass a compliant, fair map that could have earned a bipartisan vote. But instead of taking that simple action to comply with the court order, the Republican commissioners re-submitted an unconstitutional gerrymander that was already invalidated by the state’s highest court almost two months ago. Ohioans know this is not right, and they deserve answers from the Republican commissioners who have made a mockery of the redistricting reforms that were overwhelmingly supported by voters.”
Click here to read the full motion submitted by the Bennett petitioners.
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