Supporters of a constitutional amendment to take politicians out of the process of drawing congressional and legislative district maps are crying foul over draft language that will be before the Republican-dominated Ohio Ballot Board Friday.
They've proposed their own wording for the ballot language and threatening court action.
The amendment from Citizens Not Politicians would scrap the Ohio Redistricting Commission, made up of seven elected officials, and replace it with a 15-member citizens commission to draw lawmakers' district lines. That panel would have an equal number of Republicans, Democrats and independents selected by retired judges.
Current and former politicians, lobbyists and other political experts would be banned from the panel. Republicans including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) have opposed the plan.
The Ohio Ballot Board, which is dominated by Republicans, is supposed to approve a truthful summary of the amendment for voters to read on the ballot. Supporters of the November amendment are taking issue with the proposed draft ballot summary from Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office. It's three pages long, when ballot summaries are typically fairly short.
It begins with: "This amendment would repeal constitutional protections against gerrymandering approved the nearly 3/4 of Ohio electors participating in the statewide elections of 2015 and 2018.” The proposed language also said the amendment would eliminate “the longstanding ability of Ohio citizens for holding their representatives accountable."
Retired Republican Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor helped write the Citizens Not Politicians amendment and said LaRose’s proposed language violates the state constitution. She said "the self-dealing politicians who have rigged the maps, which have been ruled unconstitutional seven times, now want to rig the November election by manipulating ballot language." She is also threatening court action.
LaRose is a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which approved maps that were all ruled unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court in 2021 and 2022. O'Connor joined the court's three Democrats in all of those rulings. LaRose also chairs the Ohio Ballot Board. His office said he is out of state on U.S. Army Reserve duty and that his chief legal counsel, Republican former Senate President Larry Obhof, will chair the Ballot Board's meeting.
This isn’t the first time the ballot board has been accused of manipulating language in a way to try to persuade voters. Last fall, the GOP-dominated board approved controversial language written by LaRose's office for the reproductive rights amendment. Both supporters and opponents said they found it confusing. That language was taken to court, but except for a minor tweak was allowed to stand.
