Congressional Mapmakers Go Back to Drawing Board

While Ohio’s primary election is set for May 3 — and candidates must file by Feb. 2 — state leaders must first settle the dispute over district boundaries. That’s because the Supreme Court of Ohio last week invalidated the state’s newly redrawn congressional districts, in addition to striking down new maps of Ohio’s House and Senate legislative districts.

As summarized by the OMA’s general counsel Bricker and Eckler, the court said the maps violated the Ohio Constitution’s prohibitions on partisan gerrymandering.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission has until Saturday, Jan. 22 to remap the boundaries for legislative districts. For the congressional map, the General Assembly has until mid-February. If the legislature fails to do this, the redistricting commission will have an additional 30 days to craft a new congressional map. 1/20/2022