Ohio Voters File Objection Against Gerrymandered State Legislative Maps, Again
Washington, D.C. — Today, in a submission to the Ohio Supreme Court, voters supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund (NRAF) filed objections to the third set of gerrymandered remedial state legislative maps, which were passed by the Ohio Redistricting Commission as a result of the court-ordered redraw. As part of the redraw process, the NRAF-supported petitioners in Bennett v. Ohio Redistricting Commission submitted constitutionally-compliant state legislative maps for the Commission’s consideration. Those maps were drawn by Dr. Jonathan Rodden, a professor at Stanford University and nonpartisan expert whose maps have been previously adopted by other courts. Instead of adopting compliant maps, however, the Commission again passed gerrymandered state legislative maps with only Republican support. This time, the gerrymandered maps earned bipartisan opposition.
“The complete disrespect the Republican commissioners have for the reforms passed by a supermajority of Ohio voters, and their utter intransigence and refusal to comply in good faith with orders issued by the Ohio Supreme Court, is astounding,” said Marina Jenkins, Director of Litigation and Policy for the NRAF. “Instead of drawing fair legislative maps, which is absolutely possible, they have cynically attempted to avoid being held in contempt by feigning an effort to comply with the Court’s instructions. Make no mistake—the Republican commissioners have three times proven themselves to be foxes guarding the hen house. It is time for the Court to resolve this matter by either appointing a nonpartisan special master or adopting its own compliant state legislative plan, such as the one presented by the Bennett petitioners, which was drawn by a nonpartisan expert. Ohioans deserve fair solutions—not partisan smokescreens that come at their expense.”
To read the full brief, click here.
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Contact
Brooke Lillard
Lillard@redistrictingaction.org