TOLEDO, Ohio — It's time to go back to the drawing board - again - says Jen Miller, the executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio.
The nonpartisan group says the most recent legislative district map submitted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission earlier this week once again unfairly favors the Republican Party.
The commission's first attempt at drawing the legislative district map - as well as a congressional district map - violated rules passed by the state's voters to prevent partisan gerrymandering, according to a ruling by the Ohio Supreme Court earlier this month.
"They were supposed to draw a new map, and they did, but it didn't make the muster. So we have filed an objection with the court," said Miller.
The court's ruling on the original maps earlier this month came after voting rights and Democratic lawsuit claiming they were unfair. Now, the new maps will need to be looked at by the court.
"The lines weren't drawn to keep communities together, they were drawn to select certain voters and guarantee outcomes for certain candidates," Miller said.
The League has submitted its objections back to the Ohio Supreme Court, sending the maps back for review to determine if they need to be redrawn again.
The back and forth in the court is causing another potential problem. The holdup over the map's approval is running up against candidate's filing deadlines to run for office - the first of which is February 2nd.
BGSU's political science professor Nicole Kalaf-Hughes says this could cause serious problems.
"People are startling to get a little bit worried because they could file for districts that no longer exist. And because of the requirements and what I would consider necessary for campaigning is that you be proximate to your district, we're going to run into trouble," said Kalaf-Hughes.
Kalaf-Hughes says Ohio's government doesn't plan on pushing back May's primary election, which will mean even greater pressure on legislative candidates, who are in the dark on what happens next or how they run without a district. However, Miller hopes that by applying this kind of pressure, it will mean that the Redistricting Commission will create a new map that will truly meet the standards of Ohio's constitution.
"it's really important that we the people have the power to truly elect the people that we choose. That our votes are meaningful, rather than having maps that are rigged and therefore dilute our choice and the power of our votes," said Miller.
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