COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Ballot Board approved language Wednesday that voters will see on their ballots in the upcoming election describing Issue 1. That is the redistricting constitutional amendment regarding how Ohio's political boundary maps are drawn.
Supporters of the Citizens Not Politicians amendment call the approved language misleading and disingenuous. The Republican-controlled board approved the ballot language after making a couple minor changes ordered by the Ohio Supreme Court after Citizens Not Politicians sued.
"We didn't get it right the first time. That's why there was a lawsuit," State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D- Toledo) said before the final vote. "But we're here today and we have an opportunity in my humble opinion to respect those 700 and some thousand people who signed the petition."
Hicks-Hudson is one of two Democrats on the Ohio Ballot Board who objected to the ballot language the Republican majority ultimately approved. The other is Representative Terrence Upchurch (D- Cleveland).
"I think it's our job to work with the people that put forth this ballot measure to make sure that we're educating these people so when we do get to election day they'll be prepared and know what to expect," Upchurch said.
Citizens Not Politicians collected more than a half-million valid voter signatures to get the measure on the ballot. They say it aims to end political gerrymandering in the state's map-drawing system.
They and their supporters take issue with the approved ballot language that says the new commission would be "required to gerrymander" the legislative and congressional district lines.
"This was done, and it was created for the main purpose of hoodwinking the voters," Hicks-Hudson said. "There has never been language done like this when you look at how other secretaries of state have dealt with language such as this."
State Senator Theresa Gavarone (R- Bowling Green) argued the Supreme Court found the language accurately describes the amendment.
"To say that this misleads people is simply untrue," Gavarone said.
After the 2020 U.S. Census, the Ohio Supreme Court shot down seven legislative and congressional redistricting maps as unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans. However, the last statehouse map was approved unanimously by the current redistricting commission.
The Citizens Not Politicians amendment would replace the current commission made up of seven elected leaders with a 15-member citizen commission made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and five Independents. No politicians or lobbyists could serve on the commission.
"What's really important to note is that the substance of this amendment is not affected by the disingenuous attempt by politicians to rig the election on Issue 1," Citizens Not Politicians Spokesperson Chris Davey said.
While Democrats pushed for more changes to the language, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said time is of the essence.
"If we don't start distributing overseas and military ballots within the next 48 hours, we will actually be in violation of federal law subjecting ourselves to a DOJ lawsuit, etc., and that's not something we can risk," LaRose said.
The first absentee ballots are scheduled to go out to military and overseas voters this Friday.
After the meeting Secretary LaRose and the other Republicans on the Ohio Ballot Board did not meet with reporters to answer questions.
Now it will be up to the voters to decide whether to approve Issue 1 or stick with the current system. The voter registration deadline is October 7. Early voting begins the next day at county boards of elections offices.