Ohio redistricting thread

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

After some final hiccups, the proposed amendment has finally been cleared for signature gathering:

The Ohio Ballot Board, led by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, voted Monday to advance the proposal for the second time after organizers restarted the process because of a typographical error in the summary of the petition. In both cases, the board could have split the proposal into multiple issues, requiring the campaign to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures for each one.

But, as it did in October, the board took a unanimous and bipartisan vote at the Ohio Statehouse to let the proposal advance as a single issue. Don McTigue, an attorney representing the backers of the proposal, told the ballot board that only the typo in the summary was fixed and that the amendment itself was unchanged.

Citizens Not Politicians, the group backing the amendment, now can begin the process of collecting more than 400,000 signatures from 44 of 88 Ohio counties before a July deadline to qualify for the November 2024 ballot.

As mentioned before, it would create a 15-member commission (5D-5R-5I). Any act of the commission would require 9 votes (and at least two each of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents). The amendment also requires the commission to redraw the lines in 2025. From what it looks like, it does appear to place proportionality as the highest consideration after meeting all federal requirements (Constitution and federal law).

How are the independents selected?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

After some final hiccups, the proposed amendment has finally been cleared for signature gathering:

The Ohio Ballot Board, led by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, voted Monday to advance the proposal for the second time after organizers restarted the process because of a typographical error in the summary of the petition. In both cases, the board could have split the proposal into multiple issues, requiring the campaign to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures for each one.

But, as it did in October, the board took a unanimous and bipartisan vote at the Ohio Statehouse to let the proposal advance as a single issue. Don McTigue, an attorney representing the backers of the proposal, told the ballot board that only the typo in the summary was fixed and that the amendment itself was unchanged.

Citizens Not Politicians, the group backing the amendment, now can begin the process of collecting more than 400,000 signatures from 44 of 88 Ohio counties before a July deadline to qualify for the November 2024 ballot.

As mentioned before, it would create a 15-member commission (5D-5R-5I). Any act of the commission would require 9 votes (and at least two each of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents). The amendment also requires the commission to redraw the lines in 2025. From what it looks like, it does appear to place proportionality as the highest consideration after meeting all federal requirements (Constitution and federal law).

How are the independents selected?

All 15 positions appointed by a commission of 4 retired judges (2 of each party), themselves appointed by the 4 members of the Ballot Board appointed by the State Legislature.

Wouldn’t the state legislature just appoint Republicans and DINOs to the ballot board?