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The Fight for Fair Maps Continues: Congressional Redistricting at the Ohio Supreme Court [December, 2021]

Chris Tavenor, General Counsel, December 27, 2021

In late September, the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC) joined forces with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio), and six individual plaintiffs to challenge the gerrymandered state house redistricting plan. Our lawsuit held its oral arguments on December 8, 2021.

On December 28, 2021, another set of lawsuits will make its appearance before the Ohio Supreme Court, challenging the gerrymandered congressional maps passed by the Ohio General Assembly. The OEC filed an amicus brief in support of the parties in those cases, emphasizing the environmental injustices linked with gerrymandered maps.

Like the statehouse district maps, Ohio’s new gerrymandered congressional map violates the Ohio Constitution. While the statehouse map falls under Article XI, the congressional maps fall under Article XIX. 

Specifically, the plaintiffs claim:

  • The congressional map unduly favors one political party, or its incumbents, over another. (Article XIX, Section 1(C)(3)(a))
  • The congressional map unduly splits governmental units, giving preference to keeping whole, in the order named, counties, then townships and municipal corporations. (Article XIX, Section 1(C)(3)(b))

If you would like to dive more deeply into the legal arguments, you can read our amicus brief fighting the gerrymandered congressional maps.

If you would like to watch the oral arguments, they will be live streamed on the Ohio Channel starting at 9 AM on Tuesday, December 28.

Watch the oral arguments live!

Thank you for your continued support of our fight for fair maps. Following oral arguments, we hope to hear news that the gerrymandered maps have been invalidated. When that happens, we’ll return to testifying for fair congressional maps before the Ohio General Assembly!