COLUMBUS, Ohio — At the statehouse Thursday, a group of more than 20 Ohio advocacy organizations and unions launched a new initiative they are calling the Equal Districts Coalition. They say their goal is to impact Ohio's official mapmakers by including more everyday Ohioans in the redistricting process.

The group pointed to recent bills passed in the state legislature as proof that Ohio's current district maps are unfair. They also pointed to measures included in Ohio's budget, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law late Wednesday night.

"These extreme, harmful policies do not represent the people of Ohio. They are the direct result of rigged, gerrymandered districts. District lines are often drawn so certain political parties always win...Gerrymandering leads to bad policy,” said Desiree Tims, president and CEO of Innovation Ohio, a progressive advocacy organization.

Katy Shanahan, Ohio director for All On The Line, also urged DeWine to convene the official redistricting commission early to give the public time to participate. 

“Ohioans want fair maps drawn through a fair, transparent process that gives us ample opportunities to have our voices heard and represented," Shanahan said.

But some officials worry Ohio may not be able to begin its official redistricting process yet because the required 2020 census data is delayed. Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, recently proposed a plan to address this issue, but backed down after public pressure. Others say the process can begin using existing data without updated census information.

Ohio is set to redraw its district lines this year in a process called redistricting, which is required by the U.S. Constitution every 10 years. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have been accused in the past of rigging, or "gerrymandering," district maps to help their political party win elections.

In Ohio, Democrats and left-leaning organizations have long accused Republicans of gerrymandering district maps to favor their own party. They note that Republicans hold a supermajority of statehouse seats, including 75% of Senate seats, even though Ohio only tends to vote about 55% for Republicans statewide.

Republicans push back on this narrative. They note that Ohio's new redistricting laws, written to ensure fair maps, were a bipartisan effort. Huffman led the charge to pass them.

Ohio's new redistricting laws require the legislative maps to be drawn by September. The congressional maps must be drawn by November. This process will play a key role in the 2022 elections. 

July 2 Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to note that some officials believe the redistricting process can begin without 2020 census data.