This decade marks the first time the newly configured Ohio Redistricting Commission will redraw Ohio's House and Senate districts under new criteria overwhelmingly approved by Ohioans in 2015. Motion claiming Ohio violated the Voting Rights Act is rejected by The NL-leading Atlanta Braves traded for a pair of relievers, acquiring right-hander Pierce Johnson from Colorado and lefty Taylor Hearn from Texas. New Democratic seats in New York could help offset gains Republicans are expected to make in North Carolina, where a newly conservative top court is allowing the party to replace a more neutral map, and potentially in Ohio. The Democratic Party spent $8 million to tilt the courts 4-3 conservative majority by one seat with the election of Janet Protasiewicz, who spoke in favor of abortion rights and against the Republican-drawn map in a campaign. Democrats eye Wisconsin high court's new liberal majority to win New district maps in 2022 helped Republicans flip four Democratic House seats in New York. During the ongoing remedial efforts, right-wing activists filed a case in federal court. Andy Chow / Statehouse News Bureau Outside the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley in Columbus. State lawmakers could change that filing date without moving the May 3 primary. Ohio's top court has been ordered to take another look . But if Ohio's top court faithfully applies the North Carolina decision, it should result in the districts again getting invalidated, said the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the districts. Federal lawsuit seeks immediate change to congressional maps - Ohio Alora Thomas-Lundborg, a senior staff attorney with the A.C.L.U.'s Voting Rights Project, said that the suit was the first to challenge a statewide redistricting map drawn using the results of . The notion that the voters who overwhelmingly approved the amendment of Article XI meant to hinge the eradication of partisan gerrymandering on the election of various officeholders simply holds no water, she wrote. The House passed the map less than two weeks ago, and Gov. Justices asked how the new lines were fair to Democrats and minority voters, why opponents must prove it was gerrymandered beyond a reasonable doubt and if Ohio voters decision to overhaul the states redistricting procedures with a 2018 constitutional amendment effectively overruled legal arguments drawn from the battle over Ohios current map, drawn in 2011. Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. They said they made appropriate attempts to get to the courts desired 54% GOP to 46% Dem split, based on statewide voter preferences for the last 10 years. OConnor, it was noted, would have denied the motion for Yost to intervene in addition to denying the conversion of the Democratic brief. Unlike in North Carolina, Ohios constitution contains a specific anti-gerrymandering amendment, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters. Im not judging the bill one way or another, thats up to a court to do. But judges there had cited constitutional sections guaranteeing free elections, equal protection of the laws and the right to free speech and assembly when ruling against overly partisan districts. Authorities say a third man has been arrested on federal charges related to the firebombing of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Southern California last year, Northwest Alabama officials have reopened a beach along the Tennessee River after they closed it when diesel spilled into the river from a sunken tugboat, Georgias transportation commissioner will get another $100,000 boost in pay. September 23, 2021 COLUMBUS, Ohio The ACLU of Ohio, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Covington & Burling LLP filed a lawsuit today in Ohio Supreme Court challenging Ohio's newly drawn maps for state House and Senate districts that give extreme and unfair advantage to the Republican Party. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. "The court did not contemplate sweeping congressional redistricting, which is a wholly distinct process, into this lawsuit. The Ohio Supreme Court twice struck down congressional maps drawn by Republican officials after the 2020 census, although the second map nonetheless was used in the 2022 elections. The Ohio Redistricting Commission is tasked with redrawing each of those legislative districts. In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican lawmakers in Ohio had claimed that state justices overstepped their authority by setting their own definitions for what fair maps should look like, including an acceptable partisan make up. Ohio Gov. The group argued the results should not be certified because racial demographics were not considered when drawing the new district map which was adopted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission on March 2. Extension granted in lawsuit challenging local government for - WVXU The new map served that purpose, helping Republicans flip four seats en route to taking control of the House. The case in New York is just one part of a national battlefield that is still being remade by court battles spawned by last years once-a-decade redistricting process. The Ohio Supreme Court will take yet another look at the legality of the states congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, June 30, 2023, set aside a ruling striking down the districts and ordered further consideration of the case. Stewart pointed to several examples of why the commission made an inadequate attempt to match statewide voting preferences. This motion was granted officially making the Ohio Organizing Collaborative et al. Those preferences, according to Stewart's opinion, were54% for Republican candidates and 46% for Democratic candidates over the past decade. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Ohios newly drawn legislative district maps were hit Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, with the second lawsuit in two days that alleges Republican gerrymandering that violated the state constitution. Redistricting in Ohio - Ballotpedia The current district lines were drawn by a neutral court-appointed expert last spring to maximize competition. The Statehouse News Bureau | The Ohio Redistricting Commission comprised of four, bipartisan legislative appointees along with the governor, state auditor and secretary of state was ordered to respond to the objections by Friday. Both lawsuits target DeWine and the other members of the powerful Ohio Redistricting Commission, rather than the Legislature. It could come down to state supreme courts. Phillip Strach, an attorney for Republican legislative leaders, said the people wanted less partisan districts and thats absolutely what they got., The districts are a win for the people of Ohio, he said. Federal redistricting lawsuit filed as notice of impasse hits Ohio The Brennan Center and co-counsel from Reed Smith LLP and Miller Canfield filed a motion to intervene on behalf of our clients. It stripped the Legislature of its mapmaking authority, vesting it in the neutral expert. The Ohio Supreme Court Its worse.. Julie covers government and politics from Ohio. Its very concerning.. Yost asked that the brief be considered amicus of friend of the court brief rather than an official response by state officials. In the suit, OOC said: "the district plan . It could come down to state supreme courts, a Republican who is running for chief justice, Ohio Supreme Court is also reviewing the GOP-drawn congressional map, afederal case challenging state and congressional maps, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley said the motion by the Youngstown-area voters was outside of the scope of the original case. The Brennan Center is a nonpartisan law and policy institute, striving to uphold the values of democracy. Republican lawmakers had already planned to redraw those districts before the 2024 elections. Plaintiffs, made up of Republican voters, are asking for the federal court to take action on Ohio's redistricting process and choose a map that can be used for the May 3 primary. Supreme Court Directs Ohio's Top Court to Take Another Look at The Petitioners are the Ohio Organizing Collaborative; the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ohio; the Ohio Environmental Council; and six individual Ohio voters: Pierrette Talley, Samuel Gresham Jr., Ahmad Aboukar, Mikayla Lee, Prentiss Haney, and Crystal Bryant, who live in different parts of the state impacted by gerrymandered maps. Those maps, widely regarded as among the most gerrymandered in the country, have helped Republicans increase their hold on the Legislature to near supermajority levels, even as Democrats have won statewide elections, including Tony Evers as governor in 2018 and 2022 and Joe Biden in 2020. North Carolina Gov. The first time the commission set out to draw district lines last year, though, it deadlocked between equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. More about Nicholas Fandos, A version of this article appears in print on, New York Is Ordered by Appeals Court to Redraw House Map, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/13/nyregion/redistricting-democrats-ny.html. In both Ohio and North Carolina, Republican state lawmakers contended in appeals that their states highest court had gone too far when striking down U.S. House districts enacted by GOP state officials. Esta pgina no est disponible en espaol. While the court is widely expected to weigh in on abortion and redistricting, liberals also are talking about bringing new challenges to school choice, voter ID, the 12-year-old law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers and other laws backed by Republicans. Associated Press writer Julie Carr Smyth contributed to this report. Voters empowered the commission with a potentially pivotal role in approving Ohios legislative and congressional district maps, but the panel missed its deadline for approving a congressional map without taking a vote. The commission had no employees and initially allocated$150,000 to each chamber. The legal fight over New Yorks lines traces back to 2014, when voters adopted a constitutional amendment that outlawed gerrymandering and created a new bipartisan redistricting commission to minimize partisan mapmaking. 16, 2021, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. The many parties associated with Ohio's redistricting process appeared in court Monday for a hearing over whether federal judges need to intervene in the mapmaking dilemma. Republicans maintained a hammerlock on supermajority status in elections between 2012 and 2020 at times controlling more than 65 percent of the seats in the Ohio House of Representatives and 75 percent of the seats in the Ohio State Senate, even though their statewide vote share over the decade ranged from only 46.2 percent to 59.7 percent, the suit said, citing official election results. Second lawsuit filed against Ohio Redistricting Commission - Spectrum News Ohio Gov. Signs Redistricting Bill, Shaking Up State's Political Map But Mr. DeWine foresaw a legal challenge. What I am sure in my heart is that this committee could have come up with a bill that was much more clearly, clearly constitutional and Im sorry we did not do that.. Voting Rights Groups Sue Ohio Over Redistricting Map - The New York Times COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) The fraught politics of abortion have helped turn an August ballot question in Ohio that would make it harder to change the state constitution into a cauldron of . (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth, File) - ASSOCIATED PRESS By Published 11:41 AM PDT, June 30, 2023 Lawyers for voting-rights and Democratic groups argued its indisputable that the map unduly favors the Republican Party, which would be unconstitutional. That provision gives Ohios high court the authority to determine if a map unduly favors or disfavors a political party but not to draw a replacement. Like in North Carolina, Ohios Supreme Court underwent a realignment while an appeal was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. They ordered the states bipartisan redistricting commission to promptly restart a process that would effectively give the Democrat-dominated State Legislature final say over the contours of New Yorks 26 House seats for the remainder of the decade. Heres how you can help. Judge sets trial date for Georgia redistricting lawsuits - Head Topics The ruling by the supreme court did grant Yosts motion for limited intervention in the case, meaning he maintains his position as a legal representative for all state officials in the lawsuits. Russo and Sykes are both mentioned in the lawsuit as members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, along with Governor Mike DeWine, Senate President Matt Huffman, House Speaker (and commission co-chair) Bob Cupp, Secretary of State Frank LaRose and Auditor Keith Faber. "The issue is not comparative," Stafford said. The lawsuit, filed in the Ohio Supreme Court by the National Democratic Redistricting Committee's legal arm on behalf of a group of Ohio voters, challenges maps of Ohio House and Ohio Senate districts passed last week along party lines by the GOP-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission. Ohio redistricting battle: Yet another time crunch looms over possible Petitioners Ohio Organizing Collaborative Objections and Affidavit of Michael Latner, Response of Respondent Secretary of State Frank LaRose to Proposed Contempt Motions, Memorandum of Respondent Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Ohio House Speaker Robert R. Cupp in Opposition to Motions for Order to Show Cause, Respondent Auditor of State Keith Fabers Response to Show Cause Order, Respondent Governor Mike DeWines Response to Show Cause Order and Petitioners Objections to General Assembly District Plan, Respondents Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman and Ohio House Speaker Robert Cupps Response to Petitioners Objections, Affidavits of Dr. Douglas Johnson and Raymond DiRossi in Support of Huffman and Cupps Response to Petitioners Objections, Respondents Senator Vernon Sykes and House Minority Leader C. Allison Russos Response to Petitioners Objections, Respondent Secretary of State Frank LaRoses Response to Petitioners Objections, Respondents Senator Vernon Sykes and House Minority Leader C. Allison Russos Response to Motion for Order to Show Cause, Petitioners Ohio Organizing Collaborative Joinder in Objections to Already-Invalidated Plan, Petitioners Motion to Enforce May 25, 2022 Court Order. The nation's high court directed Ohio's top court to reassess the case in light of its ruling Tuesday in a North Carolina redistricting case. The Gonidakis plaintiffs that filed the case claim that the commission has reached impasse and that the federal court should step in and impose one of the unconstitutional plans that the Ohio Supreme Court invalidated. The lawsuit asking the federal court to step in and implement state legislative district maps is on hold until the Ohio Supreme Court takes further action. Published March 14, 2022 at 2:54 PM EDT Andy Chow / Statehouse News Bureau Outside the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley in Columbus. The Capital Journal combines Ohio state government coverage with incisive investigative journalism, reporting on the consequences of policy, political insight and principled commentary. Federal judges considering Ohio redistricting lawsuit, but lawmakers have no plans to move primary By Karen Kasler . Trump will stand trial on May 20, 2024 after most presidential primaries have elapsed on charges that he hoarded military secrets at his Mar-a-Lago estate, a . Ohio News. Copyright The Vindicator | https://www.vindy.com | 240 Franklin Street SE, Warren, OH 44482 | 330-841-1600 | Terms of Service. In granting this petition, we return the matter to its constitutional design. On January 12, 2022, a 43 majority of the Court invalidated the commissions new legislative maps, upholding the partisan fairness and proportionality provisions of the Ohio Constitution and declining to rule on other claims. The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Federal judges considering Ohio redistricting lawsuit, but lawmakers Ben Stafford, representing the NDRC, pointed to the new maps efficiency gap, a measure of votes wasted because lines strongly favor one party or the other. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. After the Census released its data to the states in mid-August, the Ohio Redistricting Commission, a panel of elected officials, five Republican and two Democrats, missed a constitutional. The Brennan Center crafts innovative policies and fights for them in Congress and the courts. In their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Republican lawmakers in Ohio had claimed that state justices overstepped their authority by setting their own definitions for what fair maps should look like, including an acceptable partisan make up. Nonetheless, their best course at this point is to file a new federal case in the Northern District specific to congressional redistricting and to move for a [temporary restraining order] as they see fit and panel appointment as the law requires.". In doing so, the commission ignored a constitutional amendment overwhelmingly passed by Ohio voters in 2015that bans partisan gerrymandering, requiring that the commission refrain from drawing districts primarily to favor or disfavor a political party and adopt a district plan under which the number of districts favoring each party is proportional to the statewide preferences of voters. (AP Photo/Julie Carr Smyth, File) By Julie Carr Smyth Published 8:43 AM PDT, December 28, 2021 Redistricting lawsuit triggers Ohio Supreme Court review of Statehouse maps Supreme Court directs Ohio's top court to take another look at redistricting lawsuit. The Democrats say he refused to allow them to consult attorneys for the Ice Miller law firm. Republican lawmakers had already planned to redraw those districts before the 2024 elections. Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who voted for all the invalidated maps as a member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission - as did Cupp, along with Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and Gov. The platform is designed to engage citizens and government leaders in a discussion about what needs improvement across the country. Complaint of Intervenor-Plaintiffs Ohio Organizing Collaborative, et al. ACLU of Ohio, LWV-Ohio, and APRI Launch Legal Challenge Over Ohio Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Auditor Keith Faber, Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and House Speaker Bob Cupp (R-Lima). Mike DeWine; Secretary of State Frank LaRose; Keith Faber, the states auditor; and Matt Huffman, the president of the State Senate prevailing over its two Democrats. Make no mistake, special interest groups tried very hard to undermine the process by pressuring members to accept so-called representational fairness., Chris Cameron is based in the Washington bureau. That map resulted in Democrats and Republicans equally splitting the states 14 congressional districts. Accordingly, we direct the I.R.C. With the deadline looming, GOP groups file lawsuit to move Ohio

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