COLUMBUS, Ohio — A day after the Ohio Supreme Court rejected the state's new legislative maps, the clock is ticking to create another set.
What You Need To Know
- The Ohio Supreme Court ruled the Ohio legislative maps unconstitutional
- The Ohio Redistricting Commission has until Jan. 24 to adopt new Ohio House and Senate maps
- The maps would have given the GOP nearly 70% of Statehouse seats despite only received 54% of the vote in statewide elections the last 10 years
The Ohio Redistricting Commission has until Jan. 24 to adopt new Ohio House and Senate maps that are not politically gerrymandered and approved by the court, but it remains to be seen how different the process and the maps end up being compared to the first time around.
"I was a bit surprised, particularly following the North Carolina decision that had just come out that basically upheld what were pretty clearly gerrymandered maps. But in some ways, this follows what happened in Pennsylvania a few years ago," Thomas Sutton, Ph.D. and political science professor at Baldwin Wallace University, said about the ruling.
In 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court told the state's Republican-led legislature it had 10 days to redraw its 2011 congressional map because it unfairly favored the GOP.
"The Pennsylvania State Court went a step further and outlined new specific criteria that they were supposed to use when redrawing districts," said Spectrum News 1 Legal Analyst Rory Riley-Topping.
Ohio's top court said the state's legislative district maps need to be fairer to Democrats. The maps that were found unconstitutional would have given the GOP nearly 70% of Statehouse seats, guaranteeing a veto-proof supermajority. However, Republicans only received 54% of the vote in statewide elections the last 10 years.
"If they get closer to those numbers, in the possibility for competitive districts, then they'll be closer to what the constitutional amendment really intended and what the court clearly wants to see in a new map," said Sutton.
If both parties agree the maps are fair, Ohioans could have 10-year maps. If not, they would be four-year maps. Either way, the court said it will review whatever maps are adopted to make sure they comply.
"They're not starting from scratch, because they do have at least the data that they need and that they can look at some of the data that was used previously when the last maps were drawn. How they apply it, again, that remains to be seen," Riley-Topping said.
Since the last commission was dissolved, Gov. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, has to reconvene the Ohio Redistricting Commission in order for the process to start back up.