Supreme Court rejects congressional map challenge, says it doesn’t have jurisdiction

A motion by congressional map challengers was rejected by the Ohio Supreme Court on Friday evening, and the court said plaintiffs would have to sue again to challenge the latest maps.

Two motions made by a group of Ohioans represented by the National Redistricting Action Fund and by the League of Women Voters asked the court to stop the state from using the congressional maps that were most recently passed by the Ohio Redistricting Commission.

The groups said the 10-3 map – with two “tossup” districts – passed by the ORC “an extreme partisan outlier” and proof the commission was working with an “irredeemably broken compass.”

“At this point, the commission cannot be trusted behind the wheel,” attorneys for the NRAF wrote.

But the court unanimously denied the request as “procedurally improper,” saying they no longer had the power to rule on the maps in the lawsuits.

“This court entered final judgment in this case on January 14, 2022, and did not retain jurisdiction to review any plan passed or adopted under…the Ohio Constitution,” the court wrote in its order.

Though the court denied the motion, they said it doesn’t mean a new lawsuit can’t be filed to challenge the plan approved on March 2.

The League of Woman Voters of Ohio are “still looking at our options,” according to Executive Director Jen Miller.