gerrymandering
In official count, Democrat wins last undecided Ohio House race, now headed for automatic recount
In official election results from the Franklin County Board of Election, Ohio House Democratic incumbent Richard D. Brown looks to have won the only remaining undecided race, meaning that Republicans will control the House 67-32 instead of 68-31. The official results for Ohio House District 5 show Brown received 17,429 votes, or 50.21%, compared to […]
More than 140 groups oppose effort to limit citizen changes to Ohio Constitution
More than 140 groups representing voters, teachers, the faith community, and good government on Tuesday had a message for Secretary of State Frank LaRose and GOP lawmakers: Any attempt to make it harder for voters to amend the state Constitution will be unpopular, expensive, and likely unsuccessful. Representatives of some of those groups gathered at […]
LaRose wants to make it harder for voters to amend constitution but evidence of a problem is lacking
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose denied that he wanted to block abortion protections or anti-gerrymandering measures when he announced that he wanted to hustle through a measure that would make it harder for voters to amend the Ohio Constitution. But he’s failed to point to a single amendment in the Constitution as an example […]
Republicans take all three Ohio Supreme Court elections
Republicans appeared to be on their way to sweeping all three open seats on the Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday. The eventual Republican majority that's likely to create will have big implications in the state for years to come.
Ohio Supreme Court races will determine whether Republican gerrymandering gets rubber-stamped
What could be more bitterly ironic than Republican Ohio Supreme Court justices being elected in 2022 in reflection of the 54-46 differential of average Ohio voter patterns, and then that new partisan Republican court rubber-stamping gerrymandered Statehouse and Congressional districts that give the GOP undue supermajority advantages that far out-kick the same differential? That might […]
Groups with Ohio chapters file briefs in potential landmark U.S. Supreme Court redistricting case
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to consider a redistricting case with implications that could be felt in Ohio, national groups with chapters who have fought Ohio’s unconstitutional district maps are hoping to make their mark. The League of Women Voters and their chapters from every state and the District of Columbia filed a amicus, […]
Supreme Court candidates talk racism, redistricting in ‘faith and freedom’ forum
Democratic candidates for the Ohio Supreme Court spoke on racism in Ohio’s court system, the future of redistricting in the state, and how a constitutional amendment on bail could impact the courts in a recent forum with religious leaders. Justice Jennifer Brunner, candidate for chief justice, attended the forum along with 10th District Court of […]
Ohio Redistricting Commission members are up for reelection. What were their roles?
Ohio’s ongoing redistricting battles have impacted the November election by changing districts and creating the need for two primaries. The congressional redistricting map decision by the Ohio Supreme Court, which deemed the map unconstitutional and unduly partisan, is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court by Republican legislative leaders Senate President Matt Huffman and House […]
Ohio GOP leaders push U.S. Supreme Court to give them free rein to rig elections with gerrymandering
All the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The ruling party in Ohio is appealing for absolute power to rig federal elections in the state. Ohio Republicans want the Ohio Supreme Court removed as an arbiter of constitutional compliance for congressional district maps that break all the rules of fairness. They don’t give a damn […]
U.S. Supreme Court to consider case that could radically reshape the country’s elections
The U.S. Supreme Court could soon grant state legislatures unconditional control over federal elections, clearing the way for lawmakers to gerrymander their states with impunity and pass voter restriction measures without interference from state courts. The high-stakes election case, Moore v. Harper, comes out of North Carolina after its Republican-controlled legislature passed in November 2021 a gerrymandered […]
States’ chief justices group argues against independent state legislatures “theory”
Calling it “invalid,” a group of influential judges is coming down against a theory that could give state legislatures the authority to set election and redistricting laws without the oversight of state courts. The Conference of Chief Justices, a group made up of the nation’s highest judicial officers, filed a rare amicus brief recently in […]
Alabama case that could limit Voting Rights Act heard at U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday heard oral arguments in a case that challenges an Alabama redistricting map and could potentially eliminate remaining federal safeguards against racial gerrymandering. Voting rights advocates fear that the high court’s conservative majority will further weaken the Voting Rights Act, with implications for voters in states across the country. […]