Ohio Attorney General Accepts Ballot Language for Independent Redistricting Commission
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Monday, Oct. 2, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) accepted ballot language for a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that would create an independent redistricting commission in the state.
Yost had previously rejected language summarizing the proposal two separate times, claiming that the summaries were not fair and truthful representations of the proposed amendment. This time, Yost wrote in a letter that the language was fair and truthful.
Citizens Not Politicians, the group leading the amendment, reacted to Yost’s approval: “We are excited to take the next steps toward gathering signatures on petitions so we can put the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment to Ohio voters in November 2024!”
As proposed in the amendment and if passed by voters in 2024, the commission would consist entirely of citizens, and be evenly split between Democrats, Republicans and independents. Although Ohio already has a redistricting commission — the Ohio Redistricting Commission (ORC) — it is dominated by Republicans and consists only of elected officials.
Just last week, the ORC unanimously adopted legislative maps that are gerrymandered to heavily favor Republicans. The ORC had previously passed five separate legislative maps, all of which were struck down by the Ohio Supreme Court for being partisan gerrymanders.
Now that Yost has signed off on the language, the amendment is subject to review by the Ohio Ballot Board, which will determine whether or not the proposal contains only one constitutional amendment. If the board certifies the petition, petitioners may then begin collecting signatures.