The Ohio Supreme Court rejected the Republican reclassified map of districts

The district map reclassified by the Ohio Republican Party was rejected by the state's high court on the 14th. That's good news for Democrats across the country, who argue the map could unfairly give Republicans several more advantageous seats in this year's crucial midterm elections.

On December 8, 2021, Freda Levenson, legal director of the American Civil Rights Union (ACLU), held an oral argument on the redistricting map in the Ohio Supreme Court. (Image source: Associated Press)

The Associated Press reported that the Ohio Supreme Court recently handed back the Republican Party's redrawn district map to the Ohio State Assembly in a 4-3 ruling, and then sent it to the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The two bodies have a total of 60 days to delineate new constituencies to comply with the 2018 Constitutional Amendment against unfair delimitation of constituencies.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission is already working on the redistricting of constituencies, although the committee may only have 10 days left.

As the February 2 and March 4 legislative and congressional candidate submission dates approach, the decisions raise doubts about whether the state's May 3 primary must be extended.

Ohio Republican Chairman Bob Paduchik called the current situation a mess and criticized the Ohio Supreme Court for giving the committee less than two weeks to develop a new district map. When attending the event on the 14th, he said: "In such a short period of time, throw all this to the committee. It's hard to say what will happen. ”

The judges accused Republicans of ignoring voters' wishes and the Constitution and urged them to speed up action. Judge Michael Donnelly wrote in an article on behalf of the majority judge: "There is no doubt that Congress has not heeded the voices of Ohio voters to stop political districting. It is reported that the Republican Party currently has an absolute majority in both the Senate and house of the state.

But Republicans defended the redrawn map, arguing that it was fair, constitutional and "would bring fierce competition." And voting rights advocates and Democrats praised the court's ruling. (End)