redistricting
Congressional maps proposed as process heads back to commission
With the state legislature missing the Sept. 30 deadline to approve congressional maps, the state redistricting commission now has a month to propose, agree to and approve new district lines for Ohio’s U.S. representatives in Congress. The commission starts out with two proposals already submitted, one from Ohio Senate Democrats and one from the independent […]
Senate Dems propose congressional map
The day before the first deadline for congressional maps in Ohio, Democrats in the state Senate released a map of district lines which reduce the Republican lean in the state. The map was released as Senate Bill 237, and was introduced Wednesday by Ohio Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights, and state Sen. Vernon […]
Third lawsuit added to pile against redistricting maps
Religious and environmental groups have added their name to the list of lawsuits against the Ohio Redistricting Commission and the four-year maps approved earlier this month. The lawsuit filed today by the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Ohio, the Ohio Environmental Council, is the third court challenge that’s been made to […]
Lawsuit accuses Ohio Redistricting Commission of violating constitution
The ACLU has filed an expected lawsuit disputing the partisan legislative redistricting maps passed earlier this month by the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The Ohio and national chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union, along with law firm Covington & Burling, LLP, announced the lawsuit Thursday afternoon, accusing the Republican majority of “disrespecting the letter and […]
Congressional redistricting plan still up in the air a week before deadline
With one week to go before the first official deadline for the congressional district maps in Ohio, how and when the process will start is still unknown with one chamber leader anticipating yet another blown constitutional deadline. At a Fair Districts Ohio rally earlier this week across from the Statehouse, advocacy groups pushed forward in […]
Huffman defends his maps, redistricting process despite no bipartisan support
State Senate President Matt Huffman defended decisions he and Republican members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission made as they moved forward with a partisan, four-year redistricting plan for the state. Just after midnight on Thursday, maps filed under his name passed through the commission on a 5-2 party-line vote. The maps were only slightly different […]
Republican majority gerrymanders Ohio for another four years
With some using words like “disappointment” and “unease,” Republican majority members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed maps of General Assembly districts on Thursday heavily favoring GOP supermajorities that will last four years, if they make it through the courts. In a process that bypassed the midnight deadline by minutes, the commission split along party […]
Final public redistricting hearing brings no agreement
The day before the deadline for legislative redistricting efforts in Ohio, there were no indications that agreement on a map was close. In fact, in a public hearing held Tuesday at the Ohio Statehouse, some citizens conceded that an extension to the deadline could be beneficial, and some Ohio Redistricting Commission members agreed. “Yes, you […]
Dems bring new map to public hearing, public asks for more teamwork
Another long haul of testimony bookended the introduction of an new redistricting map for Ohio on Monday. The two Democratic legislators on the ORC, state Sen. Vernon Sykes and House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes, brought up the House and Senate maps at the second of three public hearings for input on how legislative districts should […]
Public redistricting hearings begin again, torching of GOP map continues
As the public input process begins again for Ohio legislative redistricting, many participants at a Sunday night meeting in Dayton asked for new maps that balance ideologies in the state. The testimony at an auditorium at Washington Township RecPlex West went on for hours, with much of it mirroring the feelings of the Fair Districts […]
Redistricting Coalition pans GOP map, hopes for better result by deadline
A coalition of groups hoping to eliminate gerrymandering in the state called the Republican majority’s proposed map for district lines a “failure.” “This map fails disastrously in every way you could possibly measure it,” said Dr. David Niven, political science professor at the University of Cincinnati. The map was unveiled Thursday morning during one of […]
Commission accepts GOP redistricting map as ‘working document’
In a matter of a few hours, Ohio Republican leaders had introduced their proposal for legislative districts in the state, and that map had been accepted as a “working document” by the majority-Republican Ohio Redistricting Commission. Members of the GOP caucus, including staffer Ray DiRossi, who presented the Republican maps, blamed the lateness of census […]