Voter Suppression in Ohio as Fair Maps Yet to Be Drawn
With the Ohio primaries imminent, voter suppression is in the headlines. In August of 2021, the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) began the process of redistricting the state. Over the last seven months, the ORC has fumbled the process, let down voters, and turned redistricting into a fiasco. Now, the day of a federal deadline, Ohioans still don’t have maps. We perhaps are further from having them than when the process began. This is a violation of not only the state constitution but voting laws. The ORC has continuously proposed maps that silence voters, even after they turned out to amend this process in 2015. We can consider this an act of voter suppression.
The process has been a mess since the start. The Commission missed deadlines, has been held in contempt of court, had three failed attempts at legislative maps, pressed with seven lawsuits and counting, and the ORC still doesn’t get it. There’s an obvious conflict of interest when the folks benefiting from the GOP supermajority are the ones in charge of creating the new maps. Republicans on the ORC have since used the May 3rd Primary date as a tool in order to push rigged maps through, claiming “the election is underway, there is no time,” and going as far as to suggest the court decide on Congressional maps after the election happens in May. Governor DeWine also signed a bill adding an additional $9 million in funding to be divided throughout the state to accommodate delays to the preparation of the primary – this funding may be used for paying overtime to employees, hiring additional seasonal help, etc. So, DeWine can see the consequences of his actions yet can’t put party affiliation aside to give us fair maps.
Late on March 16, the Ohio Supreme Court shot down the 3rd proposed legislative maps. A shocking decision prompted GOP leaders to suggest then impeaching the Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice, Maureen O’Connor, for siding with the Democrats in the majority. The 4-3 decision, which came the day before the federal deadline to finalize ballot language, rightfully points blame to the way House Speaker Cupp and Senate President Huffman used this process as a way to favor their party, despite what voters decided when they voted in 2015 and 2018 to amend the state constitution. The Ohio Supreme Court also used the phrase “decree of electoral chaos” in their decision to describe the ongoing process, also citing that the democrats on the Commission had no opportunity to voice their opinions. The ORC has until March 28 to present the court with the 4th version of entirely new Legislative maps. The court also suggested the ORC consider using an independent map drawer to assist in creating maps that are actually bipartisan and give Democrats more than a 1% advantage.
In response to the court’s decision, Secretary of State Frank LaRose sent a letter to the Board of Elections offices across the state on Thursday evening. The letter states: “I regret to inform you that as a result of last night’s decision by the Ohio Supreme court, and barring the immediate action of a federal court, our 88 county boards of elections can no longer include contests for the state House and state Senate in the May 3, 2022, primary election.” However, in the letter’s conclusion, LaRose explains they are still working on getting a complete May Primary Election together for the state. At this point, it appears discussions are ongoing to decide if there will be two Primary Elections – one for Congressional races and a separate for House and Senate races.
Ohio voters thought they abolished this kind of hyper-partisan behavior years ago. This year it is so important for the democrats to create a movement in Ohio. The voters spoke in 2015 and again in 2018 to amend the redistricting process. What we want are fair maps. We must turn out in bigger numbers than before to flip these seats until we get them. If the leaders aren’t serving their constituents, it’s time to replace them. The very people who gerrymandered the state, who represent the supermajority, clearly cannot be trusted to fix the problem. Ohio voters deserve fair maps and leaders who understand it’s their job to provide that to us. So vote blue in 2022 for leaders we can count on. For leaders who know it’s time to end the decades-long supermajority in the state of Ohio and get voters real representation. Join us at Rideshare2Vote to mobilize more voters than ever.
by Heather Tingley
