Statehouse maps get a 3rd lawsuit challenge
Says Black, Muslim votes are being diluted
Recently approved Ohio Statehouse maps dilute the votes of Black Ohioans, Muslims and other minorities in the state, according to a third lawsuit filed at the Ohio Supreme Court Monday.
The Ohio Organizing Collaborative, Ohio chapter of the Council on American-islamic Relations, Ohio Environmental Council and six Ohioans filed a lawsuit against the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission, which approved four-year maps for state House and Senate districts Sept. 16.
The lawsuit asks the Ohio Supreme Court to send commission members back to the drawing board because the recently approved maps violate the Ohio Constitution.
Attorney for the organizations – the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and Reed Smith – argue that the maps don’t correspond closely to the statewide preferences of voters, an average of about 54% Republican and 46% Democratic in recent elections.
Two prior lawsuits made that same argument, but the third lawsuit takes a different approach. Attorneys allege that the gerrymandered maps interfere with Ohioans’ ability to exercise political influence and in doing so, infringe upon their freedom of speech and of assembly.
They also argue that the Ohio Constitution “prohibits drawing districts to deprive citizens of their right to alter or reform government for the equal protection and benefit.”
Any packing or cracking of Democratic districts disproportionately harms minority voters, according to the complaint.
“These abuses are especially borne by members of Ohio’s growing Black and Muslim communities who, because of Ohio’s political geography, are among the communities that bear the brunt of the enacted partisan gerrymander and are burdened in effectively organizing and having their voices heard by elected leaders,” attorneys wrote.
Senate President Matt Huffman, Rlima, has repeatedly said that Ohio’s maps are constitutional. None of the lawsuits have accused mapmakers of technical violations, such as splitting too many municipalities or going over the population limits.