COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Supporters of a Change in the reorganization of electoral districts in autumn in Ohio announced swift legal action on Friday after the state elections board approved language describing their proposal to voters, which they denounced as inaccurate, underhanded and manipulative.
Despite objections from counsel for Citizens Not Politicians, the Republican-controlled panel approved language describing the proposed 15-member citizen redistricting panel as “not elected by or eligible for recall by the voters of the state.”
The amendment’s restrictions on lobbyists and politicians influencing map drawing are described as a restriction on citizens’ right to free speech. And in a particularly notable last-minute change, the amendment, which is specifically designed to prevent partisan gerrymandering, is described as explicitly requiring such gerrymandering.
“I keep thinking about the book ‘1984,’” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio and a member of the large bipartisan coalition supporting Issue 1, referring to George Orwell’s famous novel. “You know, ‘War is peace, freedom is slavery.’ The way the election language plays with the word ‘gerrymandering’ to give it a meaning it doesn’t have is breathtaking and makes you question the integrity of elected officials.”
Republican Senator Theresa Gavarone, who proposed the term “gerrymandering,” said that drawing electoral boundaries to influence election results based on voters’ party affiliation fits the dictionary definition.
Jen Miller, executive director of the Ohio League of Women Voters and a spokeswoman for the campaign, said the lawsuit will be filed in the Ohio Supreme Court next week.
“We will point out that this is just another example of why we need to keep politicians out of the redistricting process,” she told reporters after the vote. “They break the law time and time again. They insult voters and do everything they can to keep themselves and their cronies in power.”
The wording of the ballot describes Question 1 as repealing “the constitutional protections against gerrymandering approved by nearly three-quarters of Ohio voters in 2015 and 2018.” While this is technically the case, it is precisely this system that seven sets in a row of constituencies and members of Congress that were ruled unconstitutional by the courts to favor Republicans.
Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who heads the elections committee, said he and his staff worked carefully to ensure the ballot language they submitted accurately reflected Citizens Not Politicians’ extensive proposal, which runs to more than 7,000 words. He defended his 900-word summary by saying it was far more thorough than the one submitted by the redistricting campaign, which included just five bullet points.
“How you get into the current commission is pretty straightforward,” LaRose said. “(The proposed process) is a little bit like a Rube Goldberg trick that involves a lot of twists and turns.” He said it was a complex process that had not been adequately explained.
McTigue said voters who wish will have the opportunity to read the proposed amendment in full, either in newspapers, where it must be published, or on the wall at their polling place.
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He said LaRose’s lengthy summary was designed to discourage support for Item 1. He said the committee’s language closely follows the 2015 and 2018 redistricting amendments that the elections board adopted without objection.
“I would describe the language as a farce of Shakespearean proportions,” he said.
Later in the meeting, LaRose questioned McTigue about how many times the Citizens Not Politicians campaign’s application had to be submitted before it was approved – a separate process controlled by his Republican colleague Dave Yost, the state’s attorney general. McTigue, a Democrat, said three times. two to address what Yost called “critical errors or omissions,” and a third time to correct a typo.
LaRose seemed to suggest that the committee’s history suggested that the wording of its motions might not always be so perfect. “It seems to me that you protest too much,” he joked.
The amendment proposal by a robust cross-party coalitioncalls for replacing the current redistricting commission – consisting of four representatives, the governor, the auditor and the secretary of state – with a 15-member, citizen-led commission made up of Republicans, Democrats and independents. The members would be selected by retired judges.
As a member of the existing commission, Republican Governor Mike DeWine expressed concerns about the system. However, he has speak out against the autumn proposal and vowed to seek an alternative in January if it is approved by voters.
Defenders of the existing redistricting system in Ohio point to the unanimous vote last autumn on a number of Ohio House and Senate maps, valid until 2030. However, the Democrats agreed to this deal – and Lawsuits were dropped – knowing that the 2024 edition would come.
