Trend – Redistricting
The 6 races that could impact Ohio’s redistricting debate
The following article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and is published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content-sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication by other news outlets as it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland. The future Ohio Supreme Court will decide on the constitutionality of the state’s district maps, […]
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 […]
Ohio Republican legislative leaders appeal congressional map to U.S. Supreme Court
Ohio Republican legislative leaders have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court a bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court ruling that the state’s Republican-drawn U.S. Congressional map being used for the 2022 Election is unconstitutional. The map was passed along party lines in a vote of the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) after the Republican supermajority General Assembly failed […]
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 […]
Ohio chief justice: ‘We do not have a Constitution that will end gerrymandering’
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said she plans to become a part of the anti-gerrymandering effort once she leaves office at the end of the year. In committing to her next steps after the her term-limited time as the head of the state’s highest court, she also acknowledged the failures that happened in […]
Analysis: Only 1 in 4 Statehouse races will be competitive under new redistricting plan
On the first run of Ohio’s new legislative redistricting system, as few as one in four races are likely to produce competitive general elections, a new analysis shows. All 99 seats in the Ohio House and 17 of 33 Senate seats are up this year. Of those 116 races, just 30 will take place […]
Discussions underway to propose new redistricting reform to Ohio voters
As Ohio enters its second year of redistricting, still without a constitutional map under its belt, a movement to reform the process is also reappearing. One might ask: Didn’t we already reform the process? Isn’t that how the Ohio Redistricting Commission came to be? “This process could have worked,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of […]