A lawsuit has been filed against the Ohio Ballot Board over the language used to describe a proposed redistricting amendment on upcoming ballots.
The Citizens Not Politicians campaign is challenging what they call "deceptive and unconstitutional" wording approved by the board for the November election.
According to a report by Newsweek, the group is seeking intervention from the Ohio Supreme Court to require a rewrite of the ballot description. The legal action targets the ballot board, Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and other officials involved in the approval process.
The proposed constitutional amendment seeks to overhaul Ohio's current redistricting commission. The existing system, which created congressional and statehouse maps deemed unconstitutionally gerrymandered in favor of Republicans, consists of four lawmakers: the governor, the auditor, and the secretary of state.
In contrast, the new proposal calls for a 15-member citizen-led panel comprising Republicans, Democrats, and independents. This commission would be responsible for drawing legislative and congressional districts. The selection of commission members would be handled by retired judges, aiming to create a more balanced and representative body.
The heart of the lawsuit revolves around the specific language approved by the Ohio Ballot Board to describe the proposed amendment on the ballot. The approved text states that the new commission would be "required to gerrymander" districts, a characterization that the Citizens Not Politicians campaign vehemently disputes.
In their legal filing, the campaign argues that this description "gets it entirely backward." They contend that their proposal aims to ban partisan map manipulation, not mandate it. The lawsuit emphasizes that the plan ensures the commission's maps reflect statewide partisan preferences while creating geographically contiguous districts that represent communities of interest.
Ohio Republican State Senator Theresa Gavarone has defended the board's choice of wording, stating that the definition of "gerrymander" used in the ballot language aligns with that found in the Oxford English Dictionary. This disagreement over terminology highlights the contentious nature of the redistricting debate in Ohio.
The Citizens Not Politicians campaign presents several legal arguments in its lawsuit. They claim that the approved ballot language violates the Ohio Constitution on multiple fronts. According to the filing:
Every single paragraph of the ballot language includes misleading and biased language that further serves to sway voters against the Amendment.
The lawsuit seeks to address what the campaign sees as systemic issues with the approved text, arguing that it fails to provide voters with an accurate and impartial description of the proposed amendment.
Following the ballot board meeting where the controversial language was approved, Secretary of State LaRose and Senator Gavarone did not speak directly to reporters. Instead, they participated in a podcast discussion with John Fortney, the communications chief for Republican Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman.
During this 35-minute podcast, the officials defended the board's actions and criticized the proposed amendment. They referred to the initiative as "Political Outcomes Over People" and characterized it as undemocratic, overly broad, and impractical.
The lawsuit filed by Citizens Not Politicians against the Ohio Ballot Board has brought the issue of redistricting to the forefront of political discourse in the state. The legal challenge focuses on the language used to describe a proposed amendment that would change Ohio's political mapping system. The campaign argues that the approved ballot text misrepresents their proposal, which aims to ban partisan gerrymandering.
