Elected officials will continue to draw Ohio and U.S. congressional district maps, according to Associated Press projections based on unofficial results, now that voters rejected Issue 1, which proposed replacing politicians with a citizen-led redistricting commission. Results remain unofficial until certified by local boards of elections and the Ohio Secretary of State.
“Voters decided that creating an unelected, inexplicably fourth branch of government on Issue 1 was a very bad idea,” Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman said Tuesday night.
In issue 1, the constitutional amendment proposed the creation of The 15-member Citizens’ Redistricting Commission, made up of Republicans, Democrats and independents, is intended to replace Ohio’s seven-member Redistricting Commission, which includes Ohio’s governor, secretary of state, auditor and four legislative leaders, including two representing each party in each house.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission, made up of elected officials, will now continue to oversee the mapping process, and the next round of redistricting is not expected until after the 2030 U.S. Census.
Issue 1 was hotly debated throughout the election cycle as both sides of the issue campaigned to win over voters.
Opponents of the proposed amendment argued that the focus on proportionality would create problems in drawing districts as required by federal law. Proportionality means that districts’ total representation should closely reflect the voting preferences of voters statewide. Gov. Mike DeWine, Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber – all members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission – came out in opposition to Issue 1.
The amendment was proposed by a group called Citizens Not Politicians, whose supporters pointed to five Ohio Statehouse maps and two U.S. Congressional district maps created by the current Ohio Redistricting Commission that were found unconstitutional by a bipartisan majority of the Ohio Supreme Court in 2021 and 2022.
In 2023, Ohio Redistricting Commission elected officials unanimously adopted Statehouse maps that the Ohio Supreme Court found constitutional, even though Democrats on the commission they said they only agreed to them because Republican commissioners threatened more partisan maps if they didn’t. Democratic members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission supported Reform No. 1.
The Citizens Not Politicians initiative was spearheaded by former Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court Maureen O’Connor, a Republican who played a key role in the votes that led to the rejection of the 2021 and 2022 maps.
The current Statehouse map used for the 2024 election was approved by the court after O’Connor was forced to retire due to age restrictions, with now Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy taking the reins.
After leaving the bench, O’Connor began working on Issue 1 almost immediately, leading the charge in public forums, debates, news sessions and, finally, appearing in campaign ads for the ballot initiative.
On Tuesday night, she said the results showed Ohioans support ending gerry gerrymandering, regardless of whether they voted for or against the measure.
“An analysis of today’s vote clearly shows that millions of Ohioans who voted yes want to end gerrymandering, and those who voted no thought they were voting against gerrymandering,” O’Connor told supporters and media while viewing the event in downtown Columbus.
The fight over Issue 1 included a court battle over summaries of the language seen by voters at the ballot box, which was written by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who opposed the amendment, and approved by the Ohio Board of Elections, of which he is chairman. That language was heavily criticized as misleading and an attempt to persuade voters because it included language that said the amendment would require the commission to gerrymander, even though the actual amendment prohibits gerrymandering.
The Ohio Supreme Court largely upheld this language, requiring only the board to make two minor amendments. They left the phrase “gerrymander” in effect.
Last week, Ohio voters said they were confused by the ballot summary language.
He, along with DeWine, Huffman and Faber, opposed the amendment to Edition 1 former President Donald Trump, Governor Jon Husted, Attorney General Dave Yost, Secretary of State LaRose and State Treasurer Robert Sprague.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
