(COLUMBUS, OHIO, 1/27/2022)— CAIR-Ohio and the co-plaintiffs in Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission filed objections on Jan. 25 asking the Ohio Supreme Court to reject the Ohio Redistricting Commission’s redrawn state legislative maps as they fail to meet the constitutional standards against partisan gerrymandering.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, just before a court-appointed deadline, the ORC approved new state House and Senate maps along party lines. Because of the partisan approval, these maps would again only be in effect for four years if upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Ohio voters are 54% Republican-leaning and 46% Democratic-leaning and the Ohio Constitution requires that district maps closely correspond with that proportion. The Ohio Supreme Court already rejected the ORC’s first maps which disproportionately favored the Republicans with a 62-37 House and a 23-10 Senate. The redrawn maps give Republicans a 57-42 advantage in the House and 20-13 advantage in the Senate. While the seat distribution improved, the changes made by the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) continue to unfairly favor one political party over another in violation of the Ohio Constitution.
In the House map, the ORC adjusted district lines just enough to create districts that lean Democratic by an extremely small margin. For example, the commission deemed all fourteen districts with a less than 52-48 percent margin as “Democratic-leaning.” By labeling all these highly competitive districts “Democratic-leaning,” the redrawn maps provide Republicans a unilateral growth advantage across a range of realistic election outcomes. The ORC’s redrawn Senate map maintains a veto-proof majority for Republicans, despite constitutionally proportionate map proposals submitted to the Commission that would create 18 Republican seats and 15 Democratic seats.
CAIR-Ohio has continued to fight against partisan gerrymandering, particularly as both sets of maps proposed by the ORC have divided Muslim neighborhoods and communities, diluting the voting power of Ohio Muslims. You can view the redrawn Ohio House map here and the Ohio Senate map here.
The objections filed with the court in Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission are here, along with background on the case.
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