Draft:November 2024 Ohio Issue 1

The 2024 Ohio redistricting commission initiative is a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment, to be voted upon in the November 2024 election, that is listed on the ballot as Issue 1. According to the petition, the official title is "An amendment to replace the current politician-run redistricting process with a citizen-led commission required to create fair state legislative and congressional districts through a more open and independent system." The proposed amendment would set up a 15-member commmission, appointed by retired judges, to draw the district maps for Ohio statehouse and U.S. Congressional elections. The proponents say that the new law would end gerrymandering and "ban current or former politicians, political party officials and lobbyists from sitting on the Commission."

The proposed amendment was supported by a bipartisan coalition, Citizens Not Politicians. The Ohio Ballot Board and Secretary of State Frank LaRose wrote summarizing language for the statewide ballot. However, their summary was opposed by the petitioners through a lawsuit before the Ohio Supreme Court.

The ballot initiative was proposed in the context of longstanding disputes over redistricting in Ohio. Two earlier initiatives, supported by Republicans (2005) or Democrats (2012), had been defeated. In 2015, the Republican-majority legislature developed an initiative that did pass and created an Ohio Redistricting Commission. In 2020, this Redistricting Commission drew new district maps, which were opposed by Democrats and rejected four times by the Ohio Supreme Court (January 12, February 7, March 16, April 14, 2022). As reported by the Associated Press, "Courts rejected two congressional maps and five sets of Statehouse maps as gerrymandered. Amid the court disputes, Ohio’s elections were allowed to proceed [in November 2022] under the flawed maps." In November 2023, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed objections to the fifth set of maps.

Campaign

As the 2022 Ohio elections were moving forward with district maps ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court, by September 2022 plans for a new approach was being discussed by activists, including Common Cause Ohio and the League of Women Voters of Ohio. The campaign gained support from two retired Ohio Supreme Court justices, Maureen O’Connor and Yvette McGee-Brown, a Republican and a Democrat.

The Citizens Not Politicians campaign say that Issue 1 would: "Require fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician." They also avow that the amendment would "Require the commission to operate under an open and independent process." The campaign was endorsed by organizations such as the state's AFL-CIO and other labor unions, American Federation of Teachers, Brennan Center for Justice, Council on American Islamic Relations Ohio, Equality Ohio, NAACP, National Council of Jewish Women (Cleveland), Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, Ohio Environmental Council, Ohio Farmers Union, The Amos Project, and the Ohio Sustainable Business Coalition. The campaign also received support from the Toledo Blade editorial board, Cleveland.com (Plain Dealer), columnists,

On July 1, 2024, the campaign submitted 731,000 signatures by voters in support of the ballot initiative. This number passed the hurdle of 10% (413,487) of the voters in the preceding gubernatorial election. This support including passing a 5% threshold of voters in 57 of Ohio's 88 counties.

Controversies

Amendment language

The Ohio Attorney General, Republican Dave Yost, twice rejected the proposed amendment before the Citizens Not Politicians campaign could gather signatures for their petition. In September 2023, Yost required that the amendment clarify how party affiliation would be determined, given that the proposed commission would balance the party representatives.

Ballot summary

Since the 1970s, initiative summaries were given to voters to avoid confusion over technical, legal language. However, in the lead-up to the 2024 election, the summary of the ballot initiative was a flashpoint for point of political opposition and legal action. The citizen-initiated petition itself contained a summary, written by the proponents. A very different summary was approved by the Ohio Ballot Board, led by Secretary of State LaRose. (See table, below.)

The supporters of the initiative filed a lawsuit on August 19 against state officials. They objected to several aspects of the language of the Republic-controlled Ballot Board:

• The title was rewritten as: “To create an appointed redistricting commission not elected by or subject to removal by the voters of the state,”
• The summary asserts that the initiative would "limit the right of Ohio citizens to freely express their opinions" to the new Redistricting Commission.
• The summary "describes the amendment, which is specifically intended to prevent partisan gerrymandering, as specifically requiring it."

This last aspect was highlighted by proponents as objectionable, since the initiative was explicitly designed to stop gerrymandering. The head of Common Cause Ohio stated:

“I just keep thinking about that book ‘1984.' You know, ‘War is peace, freedom is slavery.’ The way that the ballot language plays around with the word ‘gerrymandering,’ to make it mean exactly what it doesn’t, is both jaw-dropping and it makes you question the integrity of elected officials.”

The Ballot Board's wording, that the proposed Redistricting Commission would be "required to gerrymander," was proposed by state senator Theressa Gavrone, who claimed that the Commission's charge would fit the dictionary definition.

The Opposing Summaries

Citizen-initiated summary

Ballot Board summary

The proposed Amendment would repeal all existing sections in Articles XI and XIX of the Ohio Constitution related to state and congressional redistricting and add Article XX to the Constitution setting forth a structure and criteria to govern the process for drawing Ohio General Assembly and Ohio Congressional districts. Among other things, the Amendment would: 1. Create the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission ("Commission"), composed of 15 members ("Commissioners") -5 affiliated with the political party whose candidate for governor received the highest number of votes at the last preceding election for governor ("First Major Party"), 5 affiliated with the political party whose candidate for governor received the second highest number of votes at the last preceding election for governor ("Second Major Party"), and 5 not affiliated with either the First Major Party or the Second Major Party as determined by the bipartisan screening panel based on available information ("Independent"). 2. Set forth that the Commission is established to ensure an open and transparent process and fair outcomes that preserve the political power inherent in the people. 3. Set forth an open application process for appointment to the Commission, an application review process, criteria for determining affiliation and non-affiliation with a political party for appointment to the Commission, and eligibility and ineligibility for appointment to the Commission, including but not limited to the applicant's partisan political activities and, in the current and prior six years, the applicant's or applicant's immediate family members' election or appointment to public office, candidacy for elective public office, lobbyist registration, service as an officer, paid consultant or contractor of a campaign committee, political action committees or political parties, or service as a staff member, paid consultant or contractor for an elected official or candidate for public office. 4. Party affiliation of Commission applicants shall be determined based on the applicant's voting record in party primaries and various other relevant factors including, but not limited to, political contributions, campaign activities, and other reliable indicia of partisan affiliation. An applicant who has voted in two consecutive even-year primary elections for the same political party in the six years immediately preceding the application deadline shall be presumed to be affiliated with that party unless relevant factors demonstrate otherwise. 5. Require continuous Ohio residency during the current year and for the six years immediately prior to appointment to the Commission, good standing as an elector in Ohio, and disclosure of certain financial information and conflicts of interest. 6. Establish a bi-partisan screening panel ("Panel") composed of 4 Ohio retired judges -- 2 affiliated with the First Major Political Party and 2 affiliated with the Second Major Political Party. Provide that the 4 legislative appointees of the Ohio Ballot Board would be responsible for appointing the Panel members as follows: the Ballot Board legislative appointees affiliated with the same Major Political Party would select 8 applicants and present those to the Ballot Board legislative appointees affiliated with the other Major Political Party, who would then select 2 persons from the 8 for appointment to the Panel, resulting in 4 Panel appointees. 7. The Amendment does not provide that the same rules for determining political party affiliation for Commission members would apply to Panel members. The Ohio Ballot Board members would have discretion to determine political party affiliation of Panel members. Retired judges applying to serve on the Panel must complete a form that requires submission of sufficient information to enable Ballot Board members to assess the judge's qualifications and ability to be impartial and competent, and to carry out required duties with full public confidence. A retired judge must attest that the judge has had no known communication material to redistricting matters with anyone ineligible to serve on the Commission during the sixty days prior to the submission of the application and that the judge is and will continue to be free from conflicts of interest. 8. Set forth other criteria for eligibility and ineligibility to serve on the Panel in accordance with the same eligibility and ineligibility criteria to serve as a Commissioner. 9. Require the Panel to engage a professional search firm to solicit applications for Commissioner, screen and provide information about applicants, check references, and otherwise facilitate the application review and applicant interview process. Set forth criteria for qualification and disqualification of a professional search firm and require the Ohio Department of Administrative Services to provide assistance to the Panel with the request for proposals process for a professional search firm. 10. Provide that the 15 members of the Commission shall be selected as follows: a) the Panel by majority vote shall create a pool of 90 applicants that collectively form a geographically and demographically representative cross-section of Ohio with 30 affiliated with the First Major Party, 30 affiliated with the Second Major Party, and 30 Independents, provide a portal for public comments on the applicants in the pool and provide for publicly broadcast interviews by the Panel of the 90 applicants; b) the Panel then shall select 45 finalists from the pool who collectively form a geographically and demographically representative cross-section of Ohio—15 affiliated with the First Major Party, 15 affiliated with the Second Major Party, and 15 Independents; c) in a public meeting, the Panel shall randomly draw 6 names from the finalists to be on the Commission—2 affiliated with the First Major Party, 2 affiliated with the Second Major Party and 2 Independents; d) these 6 shall at a subsequent public meeting select from the pool by majority vote, including at least one vote from a Commission member affiliated with each Major Party and one Independent, 9 additional persons to be on the Commission - 3 affiliated with the First Major Party, 3 affiliated with the Second Major Party and 3 Independents, based on the strength of their applications and their reflection of the geographic and demographic diversity of Ohio. 11. Provide that the presence of 9 Commissioners shall constitute a quorum and that all acts of the Commission shall be in public meetings and require an affirmative vote of at least 9 members, including 2 affiliated with the First Major Party, 2 affiliated with the Second Major Party, and 2 Independents. 12. Provide procedures for removal for cause of Commissioners and for the filling of any Commissioner vacancy. 13. Provide that the Commission shall retain staff, professionals, and consultants through a public application process with assistance from the Department of Administrative Services and that Commissioners, staff, professionals, and consultants will owe a duty to the Commission as a whole and be obligated to act in the interest of the people of Ohio. Staff shall include an executive director, legal counsel, and one or more demographers with district mapping experience. 14. Provide that the Commission shall conduct hearings in a manner that invites broad public participation throughout the state, including the use of technology to broadcast Commission meetings and facilitate public participation. 15. Require the Commission to make census and voting data broadly accessible to the public and require the Secretary of State to collect the precinct boundaries used in any statewide election and make this information publicly available in a manner suitable for analysis for redistricting purposes. 16. Provide that the Commission shall hold at least 5 public hearings prior to release of a draft redistricting plan to gather public input. At least one hearing shall be held in each of 5 geographic regions of the state (NE, SE, NW, SW, and Central). 17. Provide that after release of a draft redistricting plan, the Commission shall hold at least 5 public hearings across the 5 geographic regions to receive public comment on the draft plan. 18. Provide that before a vote on a final redistricting plan, the Commission shall hold at least 2 public hearings to receive public comment on any revised redistricting plan. 19. Provide that not later than September 19, 2025, and no later than July 15 of each year ending in the number one, and only after proposed final redistricting plans have been made public for at least 3 days, the Commission shall adopt final redistricting plans and that within 3 days after adoption, the Commission shall make publicly available: a) a report of the redistricting plans with an explanation of the basis of the Commission's decisions and its consideration of public comments and b) the complete record before the Commission. 20. Provide that upon certification of the results of the election approving the Amendment, all prior redistricting plans used to elect members to the General Assembly or Congress are void for any subsequent elections. 21. Provide that each redistricting plan shall contain single-member districts that are geographically contiguous and comply with the United States Constitution and federal laws, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 22. Provide that in order to ban partisan gerrymandering and redistricting plans that favor or disfavor a political party, the statewide proportion of districts in a redistricting plan that favors each political party shall correspond closely to statewide partisan preferences of the voters of Ohio and provide how the statewide proportion of districts that favors a political party shall be determined, how the statewide partisan preferences of Ohio voters shall be determined, and that "correspond closely" shall mean that the statewide proportion of districts that favors a political party shall not deviate by more than three percentage points in either direction from the statewide partisan preferences of Ohio voters unless arithmetically impossible, in which case the closest possible proportion greater than three percentage points shall govern. 23. Provide that, subject to the above criteria, a redistricting plan shall, in the following order of priority, provide for districts with reasonably equal population based on the most recent federal decennial census, ensure equal functional ability of politically cohesive and fails to make such selections, the administrative director of the Court shall randomly select two special masters from the pool. 34. Provide that the two special masters shall review the record before the Commission and hold a public hearing, after which they must issue a report as to whether the Commission abused its discretion in its determination that the adopted plan complies with the partisan fairness criteria required by the Amendment for a redistricting plan; if a person who filed a challenge or the Commission disagrees with the report of the special masters, the person may file objections with the Court and after a public hearing on the objections and a review of the record before the Commission, the Court will rule whether the Commission abused its discretion in determining that the adopted plan complies with the criteria set forth in the Amendment. 35. Provide that if the Court determines that the Commission abused its discretion, the Commission shall make adjustments to the plan and submit the revised plan to the special masters; if the Court, in consultation with special masters, concludes that the Commission has failed to remedy the plan, the Court shall order the special masters to make the minimal adjustments necessary to bring the plan into compliance; and such changes made by the special masters shall not be reviewable by the Court. 36. Provide that no challenges to an adopted final redistricting plan may be brought in any court except for the claims permitted under the Amendment. 37. Provide that the process set forth in the Amendment for redistricting shall occur once during a redistricting cycle beginning with the 2024-2025 cycle and following each subsequent federal decennial census. 38. Require the General Assembly to appropriate adequate funding for the Commission and bipartisan Panel, including for participation in litigation, and establish the deadlines for making such appropriations. If the General Assembly does not do so, the Supreme Court shall order the General Assembly to comply with its obligations. 39. Require an appropriation for the Commission of not less than seven million dollars for redistricting in 2025 and that such amount shall be adjusted for inflation in subsequent redistricting cycles. 40. Require an appropriation for the bipartisan Panel of not less than one-eighth of the amount appropriated for the Commission adjusted for inflation. 41. Require that the General Assembly make separate and timely appropriations for the Commission's and Panel's expenses related to litigation. 42. Provide that the work of the special masters shall be funded out of the budget of the Supreme Court. 43. Set forth definitions for "First Major Party," "Second Major Party," "Independent," "Retired Judge," "Special Master," "effective date of this article," "Department of Administrative Services," "redistricting cycle," and "adjusted for inflation." 44. Provide compensation for Commissioners, bipartisan Panel members, and special masters appointed under the Amendment. 45. Set the term of service for Commissioners and bar holding state elective or appointive office for 6 years after service. 46. Provide for public notices at various steps and require that the Commission and Panel shall be subject to Ohio's laws governing public meetings and public records. 47. Set forth dates and timelines for completing various steps of the appointment and redistricting processes; and provide that the Commission may make reasonable adjustments to deadlines if conditions beyond its control require such adjustments to allow adoption of redistricting plans. 48. Provide that the Amendment's provisions are severable if any part is held to be invalid. 49. Provide that if any provision conflicts with another provision of the Constitution of the State of Ohio, the conflict will be resolved in favor of the Amendment. 50. Provide that if any deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state legal holiday, the deadline shall be extended to the next date that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

The proposed amendment would: 1. Repeal constitutional protections against gerrymandering approved by nearly three- quarters of Ohio electors participating in the statewide elections of 2015 and 2018, and eliminate the longstanding ability of Ohio citizens to hold their representatives accountable for establishing fair state legislative and congressional districts. 2. Establish a new taxpayer-funded commission of appointees required to gerrymander the boundaries of state legislative and congressional districts to favor either of the two largest political parties in the state of Ohio, according to a formula based on partisan outcomes as the dominant factor, so that: A. Each district shall contain single-member districts that are geographically contiguous, but state legislative and congressional districts will no longer be required to be compact; and B. Counties, townships and cities throughout Ohio can be split and divided across multiple districts, and preserving communities of interest will be secondary to the formula that is based on partisan political outcomes. 3. Require that a majority of the partisan commission members belong to the state's two largest political parties. 4. Prevent a commission member from being removed, except by a vote of their fellow commission members, even for incapacity, willful neglect of duty or gross misconduct. 5. Prohibit any citizen from filing a lawsuit challenging a redistricting plan in any court, except if the lawsuit challenges the proportionality standard applied by the commission, and then only before the Ohio Supreme Court. 6. Create the following process for appointing commission members: Four partisan appointees on the Ohio Ballot Board will choose a panel of 4 partisan retired judges (2 affiliated with the first major political party and 2affiliated with the second major political party). Provide that the 4 legislative appointees of the Ohio Ballot Board would be responsible for appointing the panel members as follows: the Ballot Board legislative appointees affiliated with the same major political party would select 8 applicants and present those to the Ballot Board legislative appointees affiliated with the other major political party, who would then select 2 persons from the 8 for appointment to the panel, resulting in 4 panel appointees. The panel would then hire a private professional search firm to help them choose 6 of the 15 individuals on the commission. The panel will choose those 6 individuals by initially creating a pool of 90 individuals (30 from the first major political party, 30 from the second major political party, and 30 from neither the first nor second major political parties). The panel of 4 partisan retired judges will create a portal for public comment on the applicants and will conduct and publicly broadcast interviews with each applicant in the pool. The panel will then narrow the pool of 90 individuals down to 45 (15 from the first major political party; 15 from the second major political party; and 15 from neither the first nor second major political parties). Randomly, by draw, the 4 partisan retired judges will then blindly select 6 names out of the pool of 45 to be members of the commission (2 from the first major political party; 2 from the second major political party; and 2from neither the first nor second major political parties). The 6 randomly drawn individuals will then review the applications of the remaining 39 individuals not randomly drawn and select the final 9 individuals to serve with them on the commission, the majority of which shall be from the first and the second major political parties (3 from the first major political party, 3 from the second major political party, and 3 from neither the first nor second major political parties). 7. Require the affirmative votes of 9 of 15 members of the appointed commission to create legislative and congressional districts. If the commission is not able to determine a plan by September 19, 2025, or July 15 of every year ending in one, the following impasse procedure will be used: for any plan at an impasse, each commissioner shall have 3 days to submit no more than one proposed redistricting plan to be subject to a commission vote through a ranked-choice selection process, with the goal of having a majority of the commission members rank one of those plans first. fI a majority cannot be obtained, the plan with the highest number of points in the ranked-choice process is eliminated, and the process is repeated until a plan receives a majority of first-place rankings. fI the ranked-choice process ends in a tie for the highest point total, the tie shall be broken through a random process. 8. Limit the right of Ohio citizens to freely express their opinions to members of the commission or to commission staff regarding the redistricting process or proposed redistricting plans. 9. Require the commission to immediately create new legislative and congressional districts ni 2025 ot replace the most recent districts adopted by the citizens of Ohio through their elected representatives. 10. Impose new taxpayer-funded costs on the State of Ohio to pay the commission members, the commission staff and appointed special masters, professionals, and private consultants that the commission is required to hire; and an unlimited amount for legal expenses incurred by the commission in any related litigation. fI approved, the amendment wil be effective 30 days after the election.

Text of the Initiative

The text of the initiative includes 23 (PDF) pages for an Article XX to be added to the Ohio Constitution, with another 9 pages of strike throughs to repeal sections of Articles XI and XIX of the Constitution.

The first Section of Article XX gives the purpose and basics of the "Establishment of the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission" including these subsections:

(A) To ensure an open and transparent process and fair outcomes that preserve the political power inherent in the people, the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission is hereby established upon the effective date of this article and shall be responsible for adopting a redistricting plan for the general assembly and a redistricting plan for the United States House of Representatives, as provided in this article.

(B) Redistricting and the operations of the commission shall be governed in accordance with the procedural and substantive requirements set forth in this article.

(C) The commission shall consist of fifteen members who have demonstrated the absence of any disqualifying conflicts of interest and who have shown an ability to conduct the redistricting process with impartiality, integrity, and fairness. Membership on the commission shall consist of: (1) Five members who are affiliated with the First Major Party; (2) Five members who are affiliated with the Second Major Party; (3) Five members who are independent.

The remaining 12 sections of proposed Article XX have the following subheadings:

• Section 2. Establishment of Bipartisan Screening Panel; Screening of Applicants; Formation of the Commission
• Section 3. Qualifications; disclosures; post service restriction
• Section 4. Commission internal governance and staff
• Section 5. Redistricting process
• Section 6. Rules for drawing districts
• Section 7. Impasse procedure
• Section 8. Jurisdiction of Supreme Court; expedited judicial review; effect of determination of constitutionality.
• Section 9. Financial and administrative independence
• Section 10. Implementation
• Section 11. Definitions
• Section 12. Construction and severability

The full text of the initiative was made available for downloading from the website's of the proponents and of the Secretary of State.

On election day, voters would see a summary of the full 32 page text. This summary is a matter of considerable dispute.