Backers of Ohio redistricting measure vow lawsuit over ballot language they call ‘deceitful’

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Backers of a fall redistricting amendment in Ohio vowed swift legal action Friday, after the state ballot board approved language describing their proposal for voters that they decried as inaccurate, devious and manipulative.

Over the objections of Citizens Not Politicians’ lawyer, the Republican-controlled panel approved language that will describe the proposed 15-member citizen redistricting panel as “not elected by or subject to removal by the voters of the state.”

It describes the amendment’s restrictions on lobbyists and politicians influencing the map-drawing process as limits on citizens’ rights to free expression. And, in a particularly noteworthy change added at the last minute, it describes the amendment, which is specifically intended to prevent partisan gerrymandering, as specifically requiring it.

“I just keep thinking about that book ‘1984,’ ” said Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio executive director and a member of the large bipartisan coalition supporting Issue 1, referring to the famous novel by George Orwell. “You know, ‘War is peace, freedom is slavery.’ The way that the ballot language plays around with the word ‘gerrymandering’ to make it mean exactly what it doesn’t is both jaw-dropping and it makes you question the integrity of elected officials.”

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GOP state Sen. Theresa Gavarone, who proposed the “gerrymandering” phrasing, said drawing lines to affect outcomes based on voters’ party affiliations meets the dictionary definition.

Ohio League of Women Voters executive director Jen Miller, speaking for the ballot campaign, said a legal challenge will be filed next week in the Ohio Supreme Court.

“We’ll make the point that this is just another example of why we need to get politicians out of the redistricting process,” she told reporters after the vote. “They continue to violate the law over and over and over again. They insult voters, and they do everything they can to keep themselves and their cronies in power.”

The ballot language describes Issue 1 as repealing “constitutional protections against gerrymandering approved by nearly three-quarters of Ohio electors” in 2015 and 2018. While that is technically the case, it is that very system that produced seven straight sets of legislative and congressional maps that courts declared unconstitutionally gerrymandered in Republicans’ favor.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who chairs the ballot board, said he and his staff worked painstakingly to assure the ballot language they presented accurately describes the voluminous proposal Citizens Not Politicians submitted, which was more than 7,000 words long. He defended his 900-word summary as far more thorough than that submitted by the redistricting campaign, which included just five bullet points.

“The way that you end up on the current commission is pretty straightforward,” LaRose said. “(The proposed process) is a bit of a Rube Goldberg device that involves a lot of twists and turns.” He said it is a complex process that wasn’t adequately explained.

McTigue said voters who want to will have the opportunity to read the proposed amendment in full, either in newspapers where it is required to be published or on the wall at their polling place.

He said LaRose’s lengthy summary was designed to discourage support for Issue 1. He said the committee’s language closely followed the redistricting amendments of 2015 and 2018, which the ballot board approved without issue.

“I would describe the language as a farce of Shakespearean proportions,” he said.

Later in the meeting, LaRose grilled McTigue about how many times the Citizens Not Politicians campaign’s petition language had to be submitted before it was approved — a separate process controlled by fellow Republican Dave Yost, the state attorney general. McTigue, a Democrat, said three, two to address what Yost described as “critical errors or omissions” and a third time to correct a typo.

LaRose seemed to imply that the committee’s history there suggested maybe its wording submissions aren’t always so perfect. “Thou doth protesteth too much, methinks,” he quipped.

The proposed amendment, advanced by a robust bipartisan coalition, calls for replacing the current redistricting commission — made up of four lawmakers, the governor, the auditor and the secretary of state — with a 15-person citizen-led commission of Republicans, Democrats and independents. Members would be selected by retired judges.

As a member of the existing commission, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine expressed concerns about the system. However, he has come out against the fall proposal and vowed to pursue an alternative come January if it is approved by voters.

Defenders of Ohio’s existing redistricting commission system point to the panel’s unanimous vote last fall on a set of Ohio House and Ohio Senate maps good through 2030. However, Democrats agreed to that deal — and lawsuits were dropped — with the knowledge the 2024 issue was coming.