Category: Independent Redistricting Commission

Ohio’s Politician-Led Redistricting Commission Failed. Citizens Are Proposing a Citizen-Led Commission Instead.

Brian is out today, and while this is a repeat of Aug. 15, 2023, earlier this month, the language for Independent Redistricting Commission ballot initiative was greenlighted by the Ohio Ballot Board: With 70% of the vote in 2018, Ohio voters passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting partisan gerrymandering.  The state’s redistricting commission and legislature ignored it, and gerrymandered the voting district maps anyway.  Citizens are now trying to fix what the politicians won’t.

Why was California’s Citizens Redistricting Commission Successful, While New York’s Commission Resulted in Gerrymandering & Court Cases?

While New York’s bipartisan redistricting commission struggled, the successful California Citizen Redistricting Commission maps were passed unanimously in 2021 with no litigation.  New York’s commission deadlocked, and was overruled by a Democratic-dominated legislature which drew its own gerrymandered maps. Those were later thrown out by the court, and the Congressional map is STILL being contested.