Ohio AG Dave Yost rejects language for 2024 redistricting reform ballot measure
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A group trying to strip redistricting powers from Ohio politicians will have to go back to the drawing board.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost rejected language submitted by Citizens not Politicians, saying it was not a fair and truthful summary of the 30-page proposal.
"During our review of the summary, we identified omissions and misstatements that, as a whole, would mislead a potential signer as to the actual scope and effect of the proposed amendment," Yost wrote in a letter to backers of the citizen commission.
The proposed amendment, which could go on the November 2024 ballot, would replace Ohio's current method of drawing statehouse and congressional districts with a 15-member citizens commission.
The line-drawing process, called redistricting, is typically completed every decade with updated population data from the U.S. Census. It becomes gerrymandering when mapmakers draw districts to disproportionately and unfairly favor one party over the other.
Yost's office found several problems with the proposed summary, including a "materially confusing and vague" description of the proposed 15-member mapmaking panel, a lacking definition of "communities of interest" and confusion surrounding which incarcerated individuals would be counted at their home addresses.
It is not unusual for the initial petition language to be rejected. A constitutional amendment seeking to eliminate qualified immunity for police and other government officials has been rejected several times. Four versions of an anti-vaccine mandate proposal were also rejected. However, a constitutional amendment about abortion access was approved on its first attempt.
Proponents plan to revise the summary and submit it again with another 1,000 signatures. They hope to make the November 2024 ballot.
“We believe our summary was accurate," Citizens Not Politicians spokesperson Chris Davey said. "But we will review the attorney general’s guidance, will make necessary adjustments and will collect new signatures with our broad, statewide, nonpartisan coalition of partners to refile as soon as possible because it’s time for citizens and not politicians to draw Ohio’s legislative maps.”
In the meantime, Ohio politicians are tasked with redrawing maps for the 2024 primaries this March.
More: Gov. DeWine wants to remove politicians from redistricting but hasn't endorsed new proposal
AG Letter Re Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission by Jessie Balmert on Scribd
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio AG rejects language for redistricting reform measure
