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It’s official: Redistricting reform will be on the Ohio ballot this fall

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — The Ohio Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday the group that wants to reform the redistricting process submitted enough valid signatures to put the proposed constitutional amendment before voters in November.

The group, Citizens Not Politicians, needed about 414,000 valid signatures. 535,000 from 58 of Ohio’s 88 counties were certified.

Supporters of redistricting reform drop off signatures for a ballot initiative.
Anti-gerrymandering group Citizens Not Politicians drops off petitions to make the November ballot. [Daniel Konik | Statehouse New Bureau]
Chris Davey, the Citizens Not Politician spokesperson, said they expected to surpass the threshold of petitions necessary to put the proposed amendment on the ballot.

“This is a culmination of nearly a year of hard work by volunteers in all 88 counties of Ohio. It really is a historic day for the state and we are just thrilled that we have qualified for the November ballot,” Davey said.

The amendment will face opposition from elected Republicans, who currently benefit from the legislative and Congressional lines drawn by the GOP-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission.

Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) has said he plans to oppose the amendment.

“This campaign should be called Political Outcomes Over People. It is designed to gerrymander guaranteed political wins for the progressive left with no accountability to the more than 70% of voters who approved the current system that produced a unanimous bipartisan set of maps for the General Assembly,” Huffman said in a written statement.

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) was one of two Democrats who voted for the maps Huffman referred to. “It was the best of the worse case scenario,” Antonio said.

Antonio said she and Ohio House Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) did not think the maps were fair but if they had not voted to adopt them, Antonio said the two Democratic members on the panel believed the eventual outcome would be even worse. Antonio said she supports this proposed amendment because “there is no way to get maps that are fair as long as elected legislators and elected officials are putting their finger on the scale of fairness in favor of their colleagues and in favor of the way they want to see districts drawn.”

The Ohio Ballot Board is the next step for the proposed amendment. It will determine the language and title voters will see on the November ballot.