Reactions to the defeat of Ohio’s House 1 redistricting reform bill showed robust feelings on both sides, with supporters expressing frustration over confusion over ballot language and opponents praising voters for rejecting the “Citizens, Not Politicians” proposal.
The Ohio Secretary of State’s office reports that 100% of precincts reported an unofficial result: 54.78% voting against Issue 1 and 46.22% favoring it. The office is counting 220,046 outstanding mail-in and provisional ballots, which is not enough to cover a margin of more than 400,000 votes in the race.
The opposition praises the result
Supporters opposing No. 1 praised the decision by a majority of Ohio voters on Tuesday night.
Even before the race was called by the Associated Press, the anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life was already celebrating the defeat, calling the No. 1 pick a “potential power grab by liberal elites.”
“By joining Ohio’s Right to Life and defeating No. 1, Ohio voters closed the door on the special interests that pollute our state’s constitution,” the group said in a statement.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, led by its president and CEO, former Ohio congressman Steve Stivers, said it was “pleased that Ohio voters realize the consequences that Issue 1 could cause.” if it were passed.”
(*1*) Stivers said in a statement.
Stivers said the chamber looks forward to “working with state legislators and elected officials to find the right solution for everyone.”
Supporters react
Representatives of Citizens Not Politicians, the group that led the impeachment effort in Issue 1, and Democrats expressed frustration with the confusion, which they said led some Ohioans to vote against the measure despite wanting to end gerrymandering.
“I dare say that everyone who voted in this election thought they were voting to end gerry gerrymandering, it’s as simple as that,” former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said after a Tuesday evening event in downtown Columbus.
While O’Connor said she was encouraged by the support of those who voted against the measure to end gerrymandering, she said those voters “were fooled” by the ballot summary language adopted by the Ohio Board of Elections, headed by became Secretary of State of Ohio Frank LaRose.
“It was just manipulation (of voting language) and that’s what defeated her,” O’Connor said.
Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, also blamed the language adopted by the Voting Commission and upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court after anti-gerrymandering advocates sued.
“The Secretary of State and the Board of Elections intentionally lied to Ohioans about No. 1 to protect their own power,” Miller told the Capital Journal. “All I can say is that the league fights for every voter and we will continue to fight the gerrymandering and corruption that has advanced voting language that has misled Ohioans.”
House Minority Leader Allison Russo of the Arlington Democratic Party accused LaRose of using “lies and dirty tricks throughout the election year to mislead voters as a result of a historic abuse of power.”
Russo served on the Ohio Redistricting Commission for years, when the commission adopted six statehouse maps and two congressional maps. The state’s sixth map was the only one not to be thrown out by the Ohio Supreme Court as unconstitutional, favoring the GOP and going against the state’s electoral trends. This map was also the only one to receive unanimous, bipartisan approval.
It was the confirmation votes that Russo and Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio Republicans, and ultimately the state supreme court, used as a reason to uphold the state’s latest map, citing bipartisan support.
Russo stated that she supports the maps only as a matter of strategy move the mapping process away from elected officials creating the ORC, focusing on the then proposed constitutional amendment.
“Failure to pass Issue 1 means that extremists in the Statehouse will continue to prioritize issues that only benefit themselves and special interest groups, not the hard-working men and women of Ohio,” she said in a statement Tuesday.
It is likely that the Ohio Redistricting Commission would have the support of the Ohio Supreme Court in the future, now that conservative justices have a 6-1 majority. In the case of previous maps that were rejected, O’Connor was the deciding vote before she left the bench due to to age restrictions.
Current Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy and the court’s conservative justices supported the ORC in opposing the map’s rejection, and Kennedy presided over the court when it upheld the sixth state’s map despite a court challenge.
What’s next?
Gov. Mike DeWine already has a plan in mind and plans to work with the Legislature to implement it in the next General Assembly, according to a spokesman for the governor’s office.
He presented the plan, modeled on the redistricting method used in Iowa, at a July press conference, where he also expressed his opposition to issue 1. In Iowa, drawing maps was entrusted to an entity similar to Ohio Legislative Service Commissiona non-partisan group preparing analyzes of bills introduced in the General Assembly.
Under Iowa’s plan, LSC maps would have to be approved by the Legislature and the governor.
Spokesman Dan Tierney said the governor believes he has a “moral obligation” to give Ohioans another option if he intends to oppose the proposal.
“I don’t agree with people who think we deserve a better system or that the system didn’t work very well in 2021.” Tierney said.
Now that Issue 1 has been defeated, DeWine plans to continue discussions to convince the Legislature to adopt the modern plan and is hopeful about support for the initiative developed by the General Assembly.
“When you do it by law, you have the opportunity to have hearings, you have the opportunity to have public input, have the public come and testify, and you have the opportunity to make amendments to the application,” Tierney said.
According to Tierney, therefore, if there are certain elements of Iowa’s plan that legislators and/or the public don’t like, they can be expressed before the bill goes to a vote.
While voting rights advocates have yet to formulate precise plans to continue fighting gerrymandering, which they believe has created extremist policies and an advantage in the Ohio General Assembly, supporters are definitely not giving up.
“This is by no means the end,” Miller said. “Having fair representation is a right that every Ohioan has; my organization started this a half-century ago, and we won’t stop until Ohioans have fair districts.”
Legislative Democrats also pledged to continue the fight despite the “defeat,” as Senate Democratic Alternate Whip Catherine Ingram, D-Cincinnati, put it.
“While we may be disappointed with this result, our work is not over,” she said in a joint statement with other Senate Democrats. “We will continue to fight for the justice and equality that every Ohioan deserves, and we will not stop pushing for a more just and inclusive future for our state.”
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