Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission have made an unusual request to the Ohio Supreme Court, which will be deciding if the new state House and Senate maps they drew are constitutional.
They’ve asked the court to use those maps through this fall, which would likely give Republicans 57% of the seats in the Statehouse for the next two years.
Groups that sued over the first set of maps – and won when the court said they were unconstitutionally gerrymandered – have challenged these latest maps.
The commission has asked the court to uphold the maps Republicans on the panel approved on January 22. If the justices can’t decide by February 11, they asked for the newly drawn maps to be put into place anyway through the November election.
Mia Lewis, who is with Common Cause Ohio worked as part of a coalition advocating for fair maps, said the Republicans on the commission should not be rewarded.
“There's absolutely no reason why this kind of behavior should be rewarded. That is the Ohio voters who will pay for that, and that is not appropriate,” Lewis said. She also notes the commission produced and approved the second set of maps in less than a week.
The filing deadline for Ohio House and Senate candidates to appear on the May primary ballot is Wednesday. To address the issue, the legislature approved a bipartisan bill to allow flexibility for those candidates to amend their petitions if they need new signatures after the initial February 2 deadline.
