2024 Ohio Issue 1

Issue 1

5 November 2024 (2024-11-05)

Create a Citizen-led Redistricting Commission by Constitutional Amendment

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 the case about the fifth set of maps, since the election had been held with bipartisan legislative approval.

Issue 1 also emerged in the context of rising concern about elections, redistricting, and, more specifically, similar ballot initiative efforts in other states.

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, In January 2024, the Leadership Now Project made public a letter by 67 business leaders who supported the constitutional amendment.

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 included passing a 5% threshold of voters in 57 of Ohio's 88 counties.

In opposition to Issue 1, the Republican Senate leadership stated that, "There would be zero accountability to the voters once the citizens panel dissolves.... This really represents an attack on democracy through a fourth branch of government appointed by former members of the judiciary." In August 2024, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson headlined a fundraiser, along with Governor Mike DeWine and GOP Congressmen, to support a political action committee against Issue 1.

On August 26, the Ballot Board released Issue 1 arguments and explanations:

The supporting argument stressing the shift of redistricting by politicians to citizens. It claimed that "Ohio is one of the most gerrymandered states in America," as evidenced by seven Supreme Court rulings that maps under the existing system were unconstitutional. It said that politicians and lobbyists would be banned from gerrymandering districts. It claimed that a "broad spectrum" of Ohioans, across party divisions, supported the initiative. In its explanation document for Issue 1, the Citizens Not Politicians campaign submitted 7 quotations from media, experts, and business leaders.

The opposing argument claimed that the amendment "forces gerrymandering" and would remove accountability to voters. It claimed that the proposed system would result in "political and racial gerrymandering." It said accountability would be impaired because commission selection process, the lack of citizen member qualifications, the ability to spend state money, and the use of outside consultants. The opposing argument and explanation (combined) was written by Robert Paduchik, former chair of the Ohio Republican Party, and submitted by Ohio Works.

Controversies

Amendment language

Dave Yost, Ohio Attorney General

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.

Funding of the campaign

Citizens Not Politicians reported that it raised $24.8 million dollars for its campaign. It highlighted receiving more than 750 small donations. Donors of $1 million or more include the American Civil Liberties Union, American Federation of Teachers, Ohio Education Association, Ohio Progressive Collaborative, Sixteen Thirty Fund, and the Tides Foundation.

Opponents of Issue 1 argued that the Citizens Not Politicians campaign is "a progressive power grab funded almost entirely by out-of-state dark money." Caitlin Sutherland of Americans for Public Trust focused this criticism on the Sixteen Thirty Fund of Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss. In September, a federal District judge held that a Ohio legislative effort to outlaw foreign campaign donations (House Bill 1) was "likely unconstitutional."

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 Republican-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."

Frank LaRose, chair of the Ohio Ballot Board

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 lawsuit itself opens by contrasting Issue 1's section 6(B), "“[B]an partisan gerrymandering and prohibit the use of redistricting plans that favor one political party and disfavor others" with the Board's summary wording, "“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.” On September 6, 2024, Ohio legislators from the Democratic Party filed a brief to support the lawsuit before the Ohio Supreme Court.

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. Opponents say that "The campaign's [ballot summary] language ignores, conceals, or in legal terms, materially omits, much of what the Constitutional Amendment would actually do." In particular, they say that the criteria for reshaping district maps are not sufficiently disclosed.