Ohio Supreme Court Rejects Partisan Congressional Maps, Compares GOP to Gambling Cheats

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 09: Protesters gather during a rally held by the group Common Cause in front of the U.S. Supreme Court January 10, 2018 in Washington, DC. Voting rights activists rallied to oppose voter roll purges as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the Husted v. A Philip Randolph Institute, a challenge to Ohio's voter roll purges. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

In a scathing opinion that compared the GOP to gambling cheats, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down proposed congressional maps on Friday that would have given a massive advantage to Republicans.

“When the dealer stacks the deck in advance, the house usually wins. That perhaps explains how a party that generally musters no more than 55 percent of the statewide popular vote is positioned to reliably win anywhere from 75 percent to 80 percent of the seats in the Ohio congressional delegation,” wrote Justice Michael P. Donnelly, a Democrat.

BREAKING: Redistricting: Ohio Supreme Court strikes down congressional map, forcing another round of drawing https://t.co/DIMipiF9ZK via @DispatchAlerts
— Jessie Balmert (@jbalmert) January 14, 2022

“By any rational measure, that skewed result just does not add up,” he continued, adding “This is not what Ohio voters wanted or expected.’’

NBC News provides background:

Ohio voters fought for years to enact new redistricting reforms, eventually amending the state Constitution with a series of reforms that created a bipartisan redistricting commission as well as created a number of new mandates for redistricting, including mandating that legislators “shall not pass a plan that unduly favors or disfavors a political party or its incumbents.”
But Ohio lawmakers sidestepped the state’s new bipartisan redistricting commission and drew maps that secured Republicans a 12-3 advantage in a state former President Donald Trump won by 8 points.

The court’s two other Democrats and Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, a Republican, joined Donnelly in the 4-3 decision.

DECISION: The Supreme Court invalidated the Ohio General Assembly bill that reapportioned Ohio’s 15 U.S. House districts, because the resulting congressional-district map violated the partisan gerrymandering prohibitions contained in the Ohio Constitution. https://t.co/ex3mwiqfcn pic.twitter.com/v0U0yhDPKn
— Ohio Supreme Court (@OHSupremeCourt) January 14, 2022

Ohio’s General Assembly now has 30 days to draw new maps that follow the 2018 amendment to the state constitution.

“If they can’t reach a solution,” explains The Columbus Dispatch “the Ohio Redistricting Commission – a panel of statewide elected officials and state lawmakers – will have 30 days to do so. Mapmakers face a tight turnaround because candidates must file paperwork to run by March 4.”

Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, cheered Friday’s ruling.

“Once again, Ohio’s high court steps in to defend the Ohio Constitution, our representative democracy, and the right of every Ohio to have fair districts,” she said. “We call on the Ohio General Assembly to finally put voters first, rather than their short-sighted and selfish political interests.”