Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission
Ohio voters adopted an amendment to the state constitution in 2015 that requires the Ohio Redistricting Commission to refrain from drawing districts primarily to favor or disfavor a political party and instructs the Commission to adopt a district plan under which the number of districts favoring each party is proportional to the statewide preferences of voters.
In January 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court invalidated the commission’s new legislative maps as violating the partisan fairness and proportionality provisions of the Ohio Constitution. The Court remanded and ordered the commission to adopt a new set of maps. The commission adopted several revised maps, each rejected by the Court as continuing to violate the state constitution.
Petitioners asked the Court to hold the Commission and other government actors in contempt for failing to follow the Court’s decisions, but the Court declined, with a concurring opinion reasoning that holding the other officials in contempt would violate separation of powers. In November 2023, the Court dismissed this case and the companion cases.
The Court’s opinions apply to all three lawsuits challenging the new legislative districts: Ohio Organizing Collaborative et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al., League of Women Voters Ohio et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al., and Bennett et al. v. Ohio Redistricting Commission et al.
Note: The Brennan Center for Justice, which maintains State Court Report, represented parties in this case.
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