The campaign behind the effort to amend Ohio’s constitution by rewriting redistricting rules via constitutional amendment announced it will be filing a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court this week after the Ohio Ballot Board adopted ballot language not supported by the group.
The group Citizens Not Politicians’ campaign, called the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment, will be presented to Ohio voters on the November 5 general election ballot as Issue 1.
Every 10 years after the U.S. Census, the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission is tasked with redrawing Ohio’s 99 House districts and 33 Senate districts to reflect the most recent census results.
Citizens Not Politicians’ proposed constitutional amendment, however, would replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission by creating the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, which would comprise 15 members – five Democrats, five Republicans, and five independents – and would not allow current or former elected officials from serving on the commission.
On Friday, the Ohio Ballot Board – chaired by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose – voted to finalize the language describing the constitutional amendment that voters will see on the November 5 general election ballot.
However, Citizens Not Politicians said the approved ballot language by the Ballot Board was “illegal and inaccurate,” which was “designed to mislead Ohio voters.”
One change the Ballot Board made to the language describing the constitutional amendment said that the proposed citizen redistricting commission would be “required to gerrymander” state legislative and congressional districts instead of being “required to manipulate the boundaries” of those districts.
Citizens Not Politicians additionally identified three other sections of the approved ballot language it does not agree with, saying it will seek an expedited ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court “directing the Ballot Board to fulfill its legal duty to adopt ballot language for Issue 1 that is true, impartial and compliant with all requirements of the Ohio Revised Code and the Ohio Constitution.”
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Citizens Not Politicians” by Citizens Not Politicians.
