Ohioans on Tuesday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have replaced the current seven-member redistricting commission with a 15-member, nonpolitical commission to draw the state’s legislative districts.
Multiple news organizations reported that voters rejected Issue 1 54.5%-45.5%, with nearly 70% of the vote reported, following a months-long, expensive battle that saw Republicans pushing to keep the current system and Democrats arguing for change.
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The Ohio Supreme Court has given the Ohio Redistricting Commission until noon Wednesday to show cause why it should not be held in contempt of court for failing to meet a deadline for new state legislative maps.
The commission missed an 11:59 p.m. Feb. 17 court-ordered deadline to submit a third set of maps after the court ruled the first two were unfairly gerrymandered to favor Republicans.
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The new Ohio Redistricting Commission, facing an Oct. 31 deadline to redraw the state’s congressional district maps, is receiving the same criticism from Democratic lawmakers as it did during the state legislative map-drawing process.
House Democratic leaders have called on Republican members of the commission to release draft maps so the commission can work toward an agreement before the Oct. 31 deadline. The commission, made up of five Republicans and two Democrats, must reach a unanimous decision for maps to last 10 years.
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In 2018, Michigan voters were fed up with in-power politicians drawing their own districts to protect incumbents. As a result, 61% of voters in the state approved a ballot proposal that established an independent citizen’s redistricting committee (MICRC).
But as new problems emerge, critics want answers.
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When Virginians submit their ballots for the November elections they will not just be voting for the president or members of Congress, they will also be deciding how the state’s redistricting system will work going forward.
Redistricting is constitutionally mandated to occur every ten years after the completion of the most recent U.S. Census.Â
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Michigan has announced the 13 citizens who will be in charge of redrawing Michigan’s congressional and legislative boundaries for the next decade, drawing their names in a random selection process on Monday.
The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is made of four Democrats, four Republicans and four people not associated with either party.
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A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit backed by the Michigan Republican Party that claimed restrictions on members of the redistricting commission in the state were unconstitutional.
The Michigan Republican Party and Tony Daunt, the executive director for the Michigan Freedom Fund, had originally submitted two separate lawsuits that later joined together claiming that the voter-backed redistricting commission violated their constitutional rights, including right to association.
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