Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose blasted a ruling from the Ohio Supreme Court which blocked the state’s redistricting maps for the fourth time.
The ruling requires a new set of maps to be drawn and submitted to the Court and the Secretary of State’s office by May 6th.
However, according to LaRose, the majority opinion written by the Court ignores state law.
“It is unclear as to why August 2, 2022, is the last available date for a primary election in Ohio. We note that several states will have primary elections on August 16, 2022, or later, including four states that will have their primary elections in September,” the members of the judicial branch wrote.
The top election official argued “any primary held after August 2 would directly conflict with the statutorily required deadlines of the General Election.”
“The part I find most alarming about this ruling is the flagrant disregard for the critical timing and deadlines of Ohio’s elections process,” said LaRose. “Despite having the firsthand knowledge of a former chief elections officer on its bench, the court’s majority ignores and, in fact, attempts to rewrite the key requirements of election administration literally spelled out in the law. We will reinforce those statutory timelines to the federal court and hope that constitutional convictions prevail.”
LaRose outlined that August 8, 2022, is the filing deadline for nominating petitions for nonpartisan races in the General Election.
Furthermore, he argued a primary at a later date may cause confusion among voters, as some local special elections will be taking place on August 2. Therefore, a later primary date would force multiple elections in a short window.
At the same time, LaRose encouraged individuals to vote in the May 3 primary, as that election is not impacted by the Court’s ruling.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Frank LaRose” by Frank LaRose. Background Photo “Ohio Supreme Court” by Sixflashphoto. CC BY-SA 4.0.
