COLUMBUS, Ohio — In a 4-3 decision, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and the three liberal judges on the court rejected the legislative maps submitted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission for a fifth time.
What You Need To Know
- In a 4-3 decision, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and the three liberal judges on the court rejected the legislative maps submitted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission
- The court said the maps, which were a resubmission of the third set of maps previously rejected, unfairly favored the Republican Party
- The Ohio Supreme Court ordered the commission to redraw the maps by Friday, June 3
- A federal court previously said if the state could not figure out its legislative redistricting process by May 28, it would implement the set of maps the Ohio Supreme Court just rejected for the second time
The court said the maps, which were a resubmission of the third set of maps previously rejected, unfairly favored the Republican Party. The maps favored Republicans in at least 54% of Ohio House and Senate districts. However, there were disproportionate amounts of Democratic seats that were considered competitive, including 16 in the House and 6 in Senate.
Republicans previously said they did not have time to alter the maps and had to resubmit the existing ones.
The Ohio Supreme Court ordered the commission to redraw the maps by Friday, June 3. However, a federal court previously said if the state could not figure out its legislative redistricting process by May 28, it would implement the set of maps the Ohio Supreme Court just rejected for the second time.
The federal court also said it would declare Aug. 2 as the primary election date for the Ohio House and Senate candidates.
The court, in a separate ruling, denied petitioners’ motion, directing redistricting commission members to show cause as to why they should not be held in contempt for refusing the court’s order to draw new maps.
Ohio House Speaker Robert Cupp, R-Lima, and Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, both said they had not reviewed the decision and therefore not prepared to comment on it.
Ohio Redistricting Commission co-chair State Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, said he is committed to meeting the court’s June 3 deadline.
“We are fortunate that the Ohio Supreme Court insists on forcing the redistricting commission to comply with the redistricting reforms overwhelmingly adopted by voters,” said Sykes. “However, to this day, Ohioans don’t have state legislative maps that comply with our Constitution.”
