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Tag: congressional map

  • Ohio Supreme Court strikes down congressional maps for second time

    Ohio Supreme Court strikes down congressional maps for second time

    Pictured is the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center where the Ohio Supreme Court meets. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons..

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal


    For the second time, the Ohio Supreme Court rejected a map for congressional districts in the state.

    The court ruled that the map violated the constitution by favoring one political party over another irrespective of election results across the state.

    “We hold that the March 2 plan unduly favors the Republican Party and disfavors the Democratic Party in violation of the (Ohio Constitution),” the majority decision reads.

    The 4-3 decision reflected the other decisions the court has made on redistricting: Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor voted to reject the maps, along with Justice Michael Donnelly, Justice Melody Stewart and Justice Jennifer Brunner. Justices Sharon Kennedy, Patrick DeWine and Patrick Fischer all dissented in the case.

    In ruling against the partisanship in the congressional map, the court called out the commission for creating Democratic districts with razor-thin advantages, while the Republican-leaning seats “comfortably favor Republican candidates.”

    In the most recent congressional map, only three Democratic-leaning seats have more than 52% Dem advantage, whereas all Republican-leaning seats have more than 53% GOP advantage.

    “Considering that Democratic candidates have received about 47% of the vote in recent statewide elections, this probable outcome represents only a modest improvement over the (previously) invalidated plan,” according to the court decision.

    The court pushed back against arguments made by Ohio Redistricting Commission members, including Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Bob Cupp, both of whom have left the commission since then, replaced by state Sen. Rob McColley and state Rep. Jeff LaRe.

    The legislative leaders and their replacements on the commission tried to argue they were not obligated to correct “legal defects” in the original congressional plan while revising the plan.

    “The commission’s constitutional duty is to adopt a congressional district plan to replace the original, invalidated plan,” the court majority wrote. “Indeed, the commission has a constitutional duty to remedy the defects in the previous plan.”

    Huffman, Cupp, McColley and LaRe said fixing the “defects” would “incentivize” Democrats to vote against the plan, and called the article setting forth anti-gerrymandering rules a “safety valve of sorts” for the ORC to adopt a plan that didn’t have to align with the same redistricting rules as the General Assembly.

    “No constitutional language suggests that the voters who approved Article XIX intended to allow the prohibitions against partisan favoritism and unduly splitting governmental units to be avoided so easily,” the majority ruled.

    The lawsuit was filed in March, after the Ohio Supreme Court turned down calls to reject the maps in a previous lawsuit on congressional redistricting. The court said because its previous decision to reject the first congressional map was final, challengers had to file a new lawsuit to challenge the second version.

    The supreme court rejected the first map on the same grounds as the second rejection: partisan favoritism.

    In their dissent to the majority decision, Kennedy and Patrick DeWine said they would have left the plan in place as constitutional and allow its use for the 2024 primary and general elections.

    Kennedy and DeWine said because they would have held that the first congressional map “did not unduly favor Republicans and was constitutional,” they would have done the same for the second plan.

    DeWine, who is Gov. Mike DeWine’s son, has recused himself from any court cases regarding holding the ORC members in contempt of court due to his father’s participation as a commission member. However, he has refused calls for his recusal in all redistricting cases because of his father’s involvement in the process.

    Fischer joined the dissent, but wrote separately to argue that map challengers “do not even meet the lower clear-and-convincing evidence burden of proof or the even lower preponderance-of-the-evidence burden of proof” that the second congressional map unduly favored Republicans.

    He also criticized the process conducted by the state supreme court, saying a lack of hearings “undoubtedly raises concerns among the public regarding this court’s lack of transparency.”

    “This court’s misguided rush to decide these cases has resulted in an unnecessary and truncated procedure that has effectively tied this court’s hands and rendered it unable to make a fully informed decision,” Fischer wrote.

    The court gave the General Assembly 30 days to pass a new map, and if they can’t, the Ohio Redistricting Commission will have another 30 days to do so.

    Since the May primary, which included congressional races, already occurred, a new congressional plan’s impact will go forward to 2024 elections.

    The legislature is currently on summer break, set to come back in the fall. Huffman’s spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the ruling, or if they would be reconvening the GA early to deal with the issue.

    A spokesperson for Cupp said the office was reviewing the decision.

    The ORC’s co-chair, Democratic state Sen. Vernon Sykes joined Senate Minority Leader Kenny Yuko in saying the court “made it clear that Republicans have repeatedly used the redistricting process to give themselves an unfair advantage.”

    “Once again, we are ready to follow the law and give Ohioans the fair maps they demanded,” Sykes and Yuko said in a statement. “We hope this time our Republican colleagues will join us, instead of trying to run out the clock.”

    A spokesperson Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the state’s chief elections officer and a member of the redistricting commission, said LaRose’s office had received the ruling and had a legal team reviewing the decision.

    The League of Women Voters, one of the two parties who challenged the congressional maps, praised the decision and hoped for swift and public action to adopt new congressional maps.

    “We agree that the congressional map is beyond a reasonable doubt gerrymandered, and we stand ready to work with the mapmakers to see a map produced that truly upholds the will of the voters for a free and fair election,” said Jen Miller, executive director of the LWV of Ohio.

    Follow OCJ Reporter Susan Tebben on Twitter.

  • GOP redistricting attorneys ask court to make decision on congressional map after 2022 election

    GOP redistricting attorneys ask court to make decision on congressional map after 2022 election

    Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp, both Lima Republicans. Official photos.

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal


    Legislative leaders and the state’s chief elections officer dug their heels in on continuing on with the May primary election, even as Ohio groups seek invalidation of the latest congressional redistricting map.

    Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Senate President Matt Huffman and House Speaker Bob Cupp have responded to requests by the League of Women Voters and a group of Ohio citizens represented by the National Redistricting Action Fund that the Ohio Supreme Court invalidated the newest congressional district map.

    Huffman and Cupp submitted their response together, starting by saying the Ohio Redistricting Commission “does not exist to simply rubberstamp redistricting plans favored by (court challengers).”

    “It is entitled to exercise reasonable discretion in balancing the highly complex factors that go into congressional redistricting,” attorneys for Cupp and Huffman wrote.

    While also arguing that the congressional map passed at the beginning of March is constitutional, Cupp and Huffman’s attorneys took the stance that the commission is the only authority in map-making in the state.

    The LWV and NRAF had differing opinions on next steps if the court invalidated the map, with the NRAF asking the court to take over, but the LWV saying the map should be sent back to the courts for very specific revisions.

    The legislative leaders argued that the Ohio Redistricting Commission is a “creature of the Ohio Constitution,” but with duties provided to it “independent of any other branch of government in Ohio.”

    “It is the commission and the general assembly who solely possess the legislative authority to create legislative and congressional districts,” attorneys wrote.

    It’s not fair, nor is it in line with the law, to compare the commission-adopted map to other maps that may have been submitted to the commission, but were never brought up for a vote or formally considered, Cupp and Huffman state in their court filing.

    In their objections to the map, challengers had offered up maps from Stanford and Harvard political science professors as models for a replacement map.

    Republican leaders flatly disagreed with the idea.

    “It is now plainer than ever that it is dangerous and disingenuous to base Ohio constitutional law and the voting rights of millions of citizens on this untested and contradictory evidence conceived of by paid-for-hire mathematicians and social scientists,” Cupp and Huffman argued.

    LaRose echoed the comments made in Cupp and Huffman’s filings that the map is constitutional and “needs no revision.”

    But if the court rejected the map, LaRose said, it does not have the power to “unilaterally implement its own congressional district plan.”

    “Again, Secretary LaRose will administer the 2022 congressional primary and general elections in accordance with a constitutional congressional district plan,” attorneys for LaRose wrote.

    In this vein, Cupp and Huffman’s attorneys asked that the court “defer any action” on the congressional map until after the 2022 election.

    They blamed the new state redistricting process, along with “significant logistical challenges” and even the U.S. Census delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic for exacerbating an “already challenging scenario” and leading to the adoption of the new congressional plan only days before the candidate filing period for the May 3 primary.

    The Ohio Supreme Court is considering court challenges for not only the congressional map, but also the legislative maps. The ORC adopted the maps one week after the court-ordered February 17 deadline, risking contempt charges.

  • Congressional map challengers ask court to stop map use

    Congressional map challengers ask court to stop map use

    Photo: Courtesy of the Ohio Supreme Court

    Attorneys for League of Women Voters proposed that the commission be given the maps again, but with specific instructions to fix District 1 in Hamilton County

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal


    The League of Women Voters and a group of Ohioans represented by a national redistricting group have asked the Ohio Supreme Court to keep the state from using recently approved congressional maps.

    “Having embarked on its latest map-drawing journey with an irredeemably broken compass, it is no surprise that the (Ohio Redistricting) Commission has once again found itself lost,” Ohioans led by the National Redistricting Action Fund stated in their court filing.

    The group called the newest map – which breaks the state down into 10 Republican districts, three Democratic districts and two “tossup” districts  – “an extreme partisan outlier again,” putting the state at a “partisan advantage at odds with Ohio’s voting patterns.”

    Because of this, they ask the court to strike down the Ohio Redistricting Commission’s second try at congressional districts, move the candidate filing deadline that was March 4 and “if necessary, itself adopt a constitutional plan as early as March 17.”

    “At this point, the commission cannot be trusted behind the wheel,” attorneys for the group wrote.

    The League of Women Voters stopped short of asking for the court to take over the process, saying “it is premature at this juncture for the court itself to implement a plan.”

    Attorneys for the Ohio league proposed that the commission be given the maps again, but with specific instructions to fix two districts: District 1 in Hamilton and Warren counties and District 15, which stretches from the western and southern sides of Franklin County to the Southern half of Shelby County.

    The LWV, represented by the ACLU of Ohio, also argued an alternative plan written by Harvard professor Dr. Kosuke Imai was brought up to to the commission “but was ignored.”

     A congressional redistricting plan proposed by Harvard professor Dr. Kosuke Imai. The League of Women Voters said this map was “ignored” by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, despite following constitutional redistricting requirements.

    The plan had a 10-6 partisan breakdown, but was never brought up for a formal vote by the commission.

    In court documents included with the LWV’s objection to the newest congressional map, Dr. Imai said his map “demonstrates that it is possible to generate a redistricting plan that is free of partisan bias and compactness problems while complying with the other redistricting criteria.

    Imai was also mentioned in the legislative redistricting court battle, when attorneys said the professor conducted 5,000 simulations of Ohio districts and never came up with the same amount of GOP partisanship in any of the simulations.

    Attorneys for the National Redistricting Action Fund said Ohio’s Republican caucus chose to “let the clock run out” on any efforts by the General Assembly to create a congressional plan, and were slow to act even as the ORC began its first week back after the GA made no decision.

    “The General Assembly seemingly took no action to even attempt to draw a plan itself because it was unwilling to attempt to reach the bipartisan agreement that would be necessary to pass emergency legislation,” Adams’ attorneys wrote.

    After the commission adopted a GOP-created map along party lines, the map challengers say Secretary of State Frank LaRose moved forward with “implementing the new gerrymandered plan,” despite the fact that it hadn’t been (and still hasn’t been) given the go-ahead by the state supreme court.

    The NRAF also argues the map continues to violate the constitution, specifically the provision prohibiting the favoring or disfavoring of one political party over another.

    “This disparity between statewide vote share and congressional seat share is astounding,” attorneys wrote.

    Asking for the court to take over the process is not a new argument state redistricting challengers have made. Attorneys arguing against legislative maps also asked the court to take charge after three attempts by the redistricting commission.

    The NRAF also asked the court to postpone “relevant election deadlines” for the May 3 primary, saying the court has “broad authority to issues orders postponing election deadlines to address harm that would occur if elections were to proceed under an unconstitutional map.”

    Republican commission members have said the power to change elections lies with the General Assembly.

  • Confidence wanes in legislature’s ability to pass new congressional map

    Confidence wanes in legislature’s ability to pass new congressional map

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal

    House Speaker Bob Cupp, center right, and state Sen. Vernon Sykes, far right, co-chairs of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, speak to media after a January meeting to restart the legislative redistricting process. The process is set to start again next week. (Photo: Susan Tebben, OCJ)

    The tide seems to be turning on congressional redistricting, with legislative leaders saying the process lacks needed support in the General Assembly, and will likely head back to the Ohio Redistricting Commission.

    A day after legislative maps were sent back to the ORC for a third time, a co-chair of that commission says the congressional map is headed that way as well.

    House Speaker Bob Cupp told media at the Statehouse on Tuesday that a two-thirds vote would not be possible in the legislature, which is necessary to be able to pass a congressional map in the General Assembly.

    Because of that lack of support, a redistricting plan could not include an emergency clause, which would be needed for the plan to take effect immediately. The legislature was on the clock to pass a revised plan by Feb. 13 (Super Bowl Sunday), and for that plan to become effective in time for the May primary.

    Bills typically take effect 90 days after the governor’s signature, which would conflict with the primary deadlines.

    A spokesperson for Senate President Matt Huffman said because a commission vote doesn’t need an emergency clause, “it makes sense for the congressional map to go to the commission” if a two-thirds vote isn’t possible.

    House Democrats said the GOP made agreement difficult, having never shared a Republican proposal with the other party.

    “Democrats cannot support a map that we have not seen,” Maya Majikas, deputy communications director for the House Democratic Caucus, told the OCJ.

    Yesterday, House Minority Leader Allison Russo spelled out her expectations for the congressional redraw, which included work by the General Assembly.

    “There is a clear path to producing a fair, constitutional map that allows for the equal representation that all Ohio voters deserve. Now, it is the duty of this General Assembly to uphold our Constitutional responsibility and deliver a fair map,” Russo said in a statement.

    Democrats in both chambers spent Tuesday pushing their proposal for congressional districts, releasing a map with a GOP majority 8-7 split. One district covering Cuyahoga County is considered Dem-leaning, according to the caucus numbers, but only gives Dems a 50.9% to 49% advantage.

    Should the legislature continue to hold until the Feb. 13 deadline, the Ohio Redistricting Commission will have 30 days to come up with a congressional plan to replace the one rejected by the court.

    This deadline comes alongside a Feb. 17 deadline for the commission to submit a third version of the legislative district plan to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, and submit it back to the court for review.

    In their Monday decision striking down the newest version of the legislative maps, the Ohio Supreme Court said they maintain jurisdiction over the maps. They also addressed the timeline for the May primary and 2022 elections in their decision.

    Republican members of the redistricting commission had asked the court to decide the case by Feb. 11 or to hold their decision until after the 2022 general election, using the now-rejected plan until that time.

    In their 4-3 decision, the majority justices on the court said the General Assembly “has the authority to ease the pressure that the commission’s failure to adopt a constitutional redistricting plan has placed on the secretary of state and on county boards of elections by moving the primary election, should that action become necessary.”

    Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office confirmed that it is solely on the legislature to decide when an election conducted, though the secretary of state can advise them on “cascading events” that would be impacted by changing an election, according to spokesperson Rob Nichols.

    There is precedent for moving an election day, as LaRose did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    In the ORC response to objections to the legislative maps, the commission laid out the impact the redistricting maelstrom may have on the 2022 election season.

    “Ohio’s expansive early voting framework amounts to an election season that begins with early in-person and absentee voting 29 days before the primary,” they wrote in court documents.

    That date would be April 5 this year, meaning before that date county boards of election need to print and prepare ballots under Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), for which federal law requires boards to begin mailing the ballots at least 45 days before the primary.

    Those ballots need to be sent by March 19 this year.

    “Though the General Assembly can, and has, temporarily amended Ohio law to move some of Ohio’s election deadlines for the primary election, the federal UOCAVA deadline is set by federal statute (and) it cannot be moved by the General Assembly or the Secretary,” the ORC wrote.

    Without districts to determine the voting precincts for those uniformed and overseas citizens, the ballots can’t be sent.

    Still, LaRose has only asked the General Assembly for the authority to shift some administrative deadlines having to do with the primary, not to move the election entirely.

    “His job right now is to administer an election on May 3,” Nichols told the OCJ.

    LaRose is also a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, so he’ll be multi-tasking as the redistricting process continues.

  • Gov. DeWine signs Republican congressional map with huge GOP advantage

    Gov. DeWine signs Republican congressional map with huge GOP advantage

    BY: DAVID DEWITT – Ohio Capital Journal

    Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed Statehouse Republicans’ congressional map for Ohio giving the GOP a substantial advantage, claiming that of all the maps presented it “makes the most progress to produce a fair, compact and competitive map.”

    DeWine pointed to fewer county splits in the map and the number of Ohio cities the map keeps whole.

    “With seven competitive congressional districts in the SB 258 map, this map significantly increases the number of competitive districts versus the current map,” DeWine said.

     The GOP congressional map signed by Gov. Mike DeWine. (Right-Click to enlarge map)

    Without bipartisan support, the map is slated to only be in place for four years. With DeWine’s signature, legal challenges are expected to be forthcoming. Statehouse legislative maps approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission with only Republican support in September are facing legal challenges currently before the Ohio Supreme Court.

    DeWine’s son, Justice Pat DeWine, has refused to recuse himself from the case, making Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor the potential swing vote on the constitutionality of the Republican plans that continue Republican supermajorities in the Ohio House and Senate and now an 11-2 advantage in congressional maps with two potential toss-up districts.

    Ohio voters passed redistricting reform for state legislative maps in 2015, with more than 70% support, and congressional redistricting reform in 2018 with nearly 75% support. Those reforms called for maps that do not “unduly favor or disfavor” one political party or another.

    The map approved Thursday in the House was introduced just Monday night as an amendment replacing the maps previously discussed in committee hearings. After the map was unveiled, it had one hearing in which a committee heard public comment. Every speaker was an opponent. The Princeton Gerrymandering gave the map a flunking grade.

    An analysis of the map on Dave’s Redistricting App shows seven Republican districts, two Democratic districts and six districts listed as competitive for being within a 54-46 margin. Five in six of the “competitive” districts lean Republican, and the one that leans Democratic, Ohio’s 13th district, does so by 0.88%. It was passed along partisan lines in both the Ohio Senate and Ohio House this past week.

    DeWine’s signing of the GOP congressional maps was criticized by anti-gerrymandering advocates.

    “Once again, Gov. DeWine has failed to stand up to the extremists in his party. He could have rejected gerrymandered maps, but chose weakness instead,” said Desiree Tims, president and CEO of Innovation Ohio. “These rigged districts will lead to more extreme politicians who pass dangerous laws that devastate Ohio communities.”

    The map will give Republicans 80%  to 87% of Ohio’s congressional seats, the advocates noted, despite the fact that Republicans only win about 55% of Ohio’s statewide vote.

    “Regardless of our skin color or zip code, everybody deserves to have a meaningful influence on our political process and choosing who gets to represent us,” said Jeniece Brock, Policy and Advocacy Director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. “By cracking and packing communities of color, this congressional map dilutes the power and voices of Black and brown Ohioans.”