Commentary: Issue 1 (to End Gerrymandering in Ohio) uses Successful Michigan Structure

The Citizens Not Politicians initiative to end gerrymandering in Ohio is now in place on the ballot for the November 5, 2024 election, and titled Issue 1.  In order to pass Issue 1, a YES vote is required.

Over 731,000 Petition signatures from voters across the state were collected in order to allow citizens to determine if gerrymandered election districts will continue in Ohio, or finally be eliminated. 

Issue 1 was among the most successful Ohio citizen-led signature initiatives over the past 112 years.  It was done with the objective to counter politicians who want to protect their own power and control instead of working for the will of the majority of Ohio voters who want gerrymandering ended.

Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission

Even though the Michigan Commission is relatively young, Michigan has used the structure of an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to achieve impressive results in addressing gerrymandering.  It is this same non-partisan structure and approach that is at the heart of efforts to end gerrymandering in Ohio.

In 2012, prior to Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, midterm elections were held in the state.  64% of Michigan’s 14 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives went to GOP candidates, in spite of their winning only 46% of the votes. Gerrymandered district maps were responsible for this result.

In 2022, after the establishment of Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, the number of Michigan seats for the U.S. House of Representatives won by each political party was very close to the percentage of votes cast by their supporters in the election. Seven (7) of the 13 seats were won by candidates of the Democratic Party who received a slightly higher percentage of the total votes cast than the Republican Party candidates who won 6 of the 13 seats.

An Unlawful Weapon— Ohio Politicians Falsify the Ballot Summary Language that Voters will See

The Citizens Not Politicians initiative continues to face unthinkable actions from a group of Ohio politicians who are desperate to protect their current gerrymandered election districts.

These politicians, through their control of the Ohio Ballot Board, have now changed the non-partisan summary ballot language that describes Issue 1, and replaced it with an extremely long and misleading set of words that have no relation to the truth.

The Ohio Constitution’s Article XVI, Section 1 requires the Ohio Ballot Board to structure language for Issue 1 that “properly identifies the substance of the proposal to be voted upon.” And the Constitution directs that the Ballot Board’s language is invalid if “. . . it is such as to mislead, deceive, or defraud the voters.”

The Citizens Not Politicians leadership quickly filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court against the Ohio Ballot Board’s conduct involving false and deceptive ballot summary language.

In a 4 to 3 decision on 9/16/24, the Ohio Supreme Court banned some of the Ballot Board’s false language, but is allowing much of the untruthful/deceptive wording.   

In a dissenting opinion written by Justice Jennifer Brunner for the three (3) Ohio Supreme Court members in the minority, she stated:

“We should be requiring a nearly complete redrafting of what is perhaps the most stunningly stilted ballot language that Ohio voters will have ever seen . . .

“This court’s role is to ensure that the ballot language for the proposed      amendment is not misleading, deceiving, or defrauding. The unwillingness of a majority of this court to act constitutionally fails Ohio voters.”

Major media entities across Ohio have run scathing editorials blasting Frank LaRose and the Ohio Ballot Board’s conduct.  Their published editorials and articles are a warning about the desperate attempts that are being made by some Ohio politicians to protect their gerrymandered election districts in the state.

As a result of the actions by the Ohio Ballot Board, leadership of the Citizens Not Politicians Issue 1 initiative has established a simple message to citizens stating—”Vote YES on Issue 1 to End Gerrymandering in Ohio.”

It is important to understand that even though the Ohio Ballot Board has created summary ballot language for Issue 1 that is not truthful, and this language will appear on the ballot that voters see, the actual legal language of the Issue 1 Petition that over 731,000 Ohio voters signed has not changed.  

The actual legal language of Issue 1 is designed to end gerrymandering in Ohio and its key elements remain in place. 

Several Critical Elements of the actual Legal Language of Issue 1

Voting Yes for Issue 1will establish an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission that by law has a stringent set of requirements documented in detail in the signature Petition signed by voters and that Commission members must follow.

Issue 1 requires that no politicians or lobbyists are permitted on the Commission.

And, a highly detailed set of requirements and operating procedures are structured by law in the legal language of Issue 1 to ensure that the Commission is not used in the future to produce gerrymandered election district maps. 

In addition, a critical element of the actual legal language of Issue 1 is that all business conducted by the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission has to be completely open, transparent, and visible to all of the citizens of Ohio. 

This is in stark contrast to the current situation where all business by the current Ohio Redistricting Commission is conducted behind closed doors, and relatively little information is shared with the media, and citizens of the state.