COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio House Speaker Robert Cupp, R-Lima, a co-chair of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, announced Thursday the commission will meet Wednesday, May 4 at 2 p.m. at the Ohio Statehouse.

Republican commissioners previously said they could not meet for the first time until then because of the May 3 primary.

Meanwhile, voting advocates and Democrats said that is unacceptable given the deadline the Ohio Supreme Court gave the commission to submit a fifth set of maps is next Friday.

Voting rights groups rallied at the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday to call on the Ohio Redistricting Commission to meet, draw and adopt General Assembly maps that reflect the will of the voters.

“We’re really tired of waiting for the Ohio Redistricting Commission to meet and actually pass fair maps,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio. 

Activists pointed out that it has been two weeks since the court rejected the fourth pair of Ohio House and Senate maps adopted by Republican commissioners and the commission has not reconvened.

“We’re on to the fifth set of maps and what we know is it takes time to do things in a thoughtful, transparent, bipartisan process,” Turcer said. “And at this point, we’re just looking at, like, almost a week. You know, there’s just so little time to do the right thing.”

In a letter Thursday, Ohio House Speaker Robert Cupp said, “it is both unwise and not feasible for the redistricting commission to meet prior,” to the May 3 primary citing the role of Secretary of State Frank LaRose to oversee the election.

Cupp said, “Holding more meetings prior to May 3 would serve no other purpose than to further confuse the electorate.”

​Both Democratic commissioners, state Sen. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, and Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington, took exception to Cupp’s logic.

“We have 22 days and there’s been suggestions that we could also meet remotely. There’s opportunities for members to have substitutes to sit in any particular time,” said Sykes. “But not to comply, not to meet, not to deal with the court order for 20 days is unacceptable.”

“And look, in this job, we regularly have to balance the political campaigning part with the official part,” Russo added. “We have a constitutional obligation to get this done, and we are under a court order to get this done by May 6.”

A federal court said if the state does not figure out its legislative redistricting situation by May 28, it will implement the third set of maps drawn and adopted by the Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission despite the Ohio Supreme Court previously ruling unconstitutional because they unfairly favor the Republican Party.