COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Ballot Board must make minor revisions to language that will appear on general election ballots as voters consider a proposal to reform the state’s redistricting process, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The Republican-controlled court ruled in favor of the ballot board on challenges to six of eight points brought by backers of the amendment, a bipartisan coalition seeking to remove politicians from the decennial process of redrawing state legislative and congressional lines.
Republicans on the ballot board last month wrote the language summarizing a 26-page amendment into 10 bullet points as Issue 1 for the general election ballot. Citizens Not Politicians, the group that collected more than 400,000 signatures to put the amendment on the ballot, said the language was written to persuade voters against the amendment.
The backers sued to force changes to the language that will appear on ballots that soon will be available to voters. Early voting begins in earnest on Oct. 8, but overseas and military voter ballots will go out this week.
In a 4-3 ruling issued late on Monday, the court wrote that the language is largely consistent with the amendment. But the court ordered revisions on two sections: one describing when a lawsuit can be filed to challenge a redistricting plan, and another about the public’s ability to give input to mapmakers.
All of the court’s Republicans joined in the ruling: Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy and Justices Patrick Fischer, Patrick DeWine and Joseph Deters. Three Democrats — Justices Michael Donnelly, Jennifer Brunner and Melody Stewart — dissented.
The majority opinion noted that the court cannot rule the language invalid unless it is written “to mislead, deceive, or defraud the voters.”
The ballot board, led by Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose, must reconvene to rewrite portions of the language the court said didn’t meet state requirements. The court did not order the board to adopt specific language.
Cleveland.com reached out to Citizens Not Politicians and LaRose’s office for comment.
“The Court was thoughtful in its approach and they got it right. The ballot language is now clear: Issue One will force gerrymandering into the state constitution while destroying the anti-gerrymandering reforms Ohio voters approved by more than 70%. Issue One hurts Ohio,” Ohio Auditor Keith Faber said in a prepared statement from the opposition to the amendment.
