Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Congressional Map, Orders New Districts for 2024 Election
WASHINGTON, D.C. – In an opinion released today, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the gerrymandered congressional map used in the state’s May primary election this year, ordering Ohio’s legislature and redistricting commission to adopt a new constitutional plan within sixty days, for use in the 2024 election.
“This ruling is a major victory for the voters of Ohio, who overwhelmingly supported the adoption of new anti-gerrymandering provisions to the state constitution in 2018,” said Elias Law Group Partner Abha Khanna. “With today’s ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court is standing up for Ohio voters by striking down an unconstitutional congressional map designed to give Republicans an unfair advantage. Ohioans made their voice heard, and they deserve to vote in fairly drawn districts.”
On March 21, a group of concerned Ohio voters represented by Elias Law Group attorneys, in partnership with the National Redistricting Foundation, filed a lawsuit arguing that the state’s remedial redistricting process produced a congressional map that was again designed to unduly advantage Republicans, despite historic reforms adopted in 2018 to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
In today’s ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court agreed that Ohio’s latest congressional redistricting plan “unduly favors the Republican Party and disfavors the Democratic Party in violation of” anti-gerrymandering provisions in the state constitution that were “overwhelmingly approved by Ohio voters.”
The Ohio General Assembly now has 30 days to pass a third congressional-district plan to remedy the constitutional violation. If the Assembly fails to pass a constitutional plan, the Ohio Redistricting Commission will have 30 days to do so. The new districts would take effect for the 2024 election cycle.
Elias Law Group attorneys Ben Stafford, Abha Khanna, Jyoti Jasrasaria, Spencer Klein, Harleen Gambhir, and Raisa Cramer contributed to this case.
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