COLUMBUS, Ohio — The effort to create a citizen-led redistricting commission cleared another hurdle. This move comes as some members of the Ohio legislature look to change State Issues 1 and 2 after Ohio voters approved both ballot amendments last week.

What You Need To Know

• Citizens Not Politicians cleared the first hurdle and now the ballot language heads to the Ohio Ballot Board for approval


• "I think the results from Tuesday simply reaffirm that the legislature is really out of step with the public when it comes to important public policy issues like the issue of abortion," said Paul Beck, political science professor at Ohio State University.


•  “The truth is, Maureen O’Connor’s group doesn’t care about any issue other than their own, which is passing guaranteed gerrymandered wins for Democrats,” said John Fortney, Director of Communications at the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus

“I think the results from Tuesday simply reaffirm that the legislature is really out of step with the public when it comes to important public policy issues like the issue of abortion,” said Paul Beck, a political science professor at Ohio State University.

Beck said Republican lawmakers’ views on the two recent state issues do not coincide with how Ohioans voted and suggested the current legislature may not be a true reflection of the people within the state’s districts. However, some Republican lawmakers believe money from out-of-state groups could have tilted the election results in favor of Issue 1.

“Foreign billionaires don’t get to make Ohio laws,” said State Representative Jennifer Gross, R-West Chester, in a public statement. “This foreign election interference will not stand.” 

“What last week’s election results demonstrate is that the radically gerrymandered legislature is out of touch with what a majority of Ohioans want on some of these major public policy issues,” said Chris Davey, a spokesperson for Citizens Not Politicians.

At this time, elected officials are in charge of drawing Ohio’s state and congressional districts. Davey says November 7th’s election shows why their citizen-led amendment initiative is important for next year’s election. 

“I think people are taking stock and realizing that this election demonstrates that we need to do away with gerrymandering,” Davey said.

“The truth is, Maureen O’Connor’s group doesn’t care about any issue other than their own, which is passing guaranteed gerrymandered wins for Democrats.” said John Fortney, the Director of Communications of the Ohio Senate Majority Caucus. 

The next step for the group Citizens not Politicians is to get their ballot language approved by the Ohio Ballot Board.