The unconstitutional maps are before the federal court, the voting rights groups’ motion states.
An Ohio House and Senate map plan approved by Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Two voting rights groups filed a motion in federal court Friday, a day before a key court deadline, asking the judges to extend it until June 6 in an attempt to force the Ohio Redistricting Commission to create a new set of Ohio House and Senate legislative maps.
The League of Women Voters of Ohio and the A. Philip Randolph Institute of Ohio, which represents Black voters, said in the Friday motion that the extra time is necessary since the Ohio Supreme Court struck down on Wednesday the latest version of the Ohio House and Senate maps as an unconstitutional gerrymander.the commission submitted these particular maps in question.“This Court should continue to stay its hand until Monday, June 6, 2022 to permit a short period for the Ohio state process to play out and permit the enactment of a new map in compliance with the Ohio Constitution, the orders of the Ohio Supreme Court, and the will of Ohio voters,” the motion states. Litigation over the Ohio House and Senate maps, which pitted voter rights groups and Democrats against Republicans who control the Ohio Redistricting Commission, have delayed the primary election for state legislative seats. The contests were supposed to be decided with the May 3 primary, but ultimately those races remained off ballots due to a lack of a map to clear constitutional muster for a majority of the Ohio Supreme Court. The Redistricting Commission has worked on various Ohio House and Senate maps from September through late February. The rules for drawing the maps changed after voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2015 attempting to reform the process and reduce gerrymandering. However, Republicans have a majority on the commission and passed maps that favored their party, which a majority on the Ohio Supreme Court has continuously struck down. The issue ended up before a three-judge panel in federal court thanks to a lawsuit filed by a prominent anti-abortion GOP activist., U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amul Thapar and U.S. Western District of Kentucky Judge Benjamin Beaton created the Saturday deadline for final state legislative maps. Their ruling also said that the court would order the state to hold the Ohio House and Senate primary elections on Aug. 2, using the third set of maps the state supreme court rejected. A third federal judge on the panel reviewing the issue opposed their deadline, saying it gave the redistricting commission no incentive to work in good faith. Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
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