Agenda

• HJR1 update
• GOP lawsuit at SCOTUS
• Maps from Andrew Green, Ohio PoliticsGuru
• Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor
• Next steps
• (Householder trial update)

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The attack on direct democracy will not be on this May’s Primary ballot, but State Rep. Brian Stewart’s proposal has gotten worse and Speaker Jason Stephens has said that he is open to the proposal to make amendments to the Ohio Constitution harder.

Together, we pushed back hard and HJR 6 died in lame duck!

GOP lawsuit at SCOTUS

• Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman files a certiorari petition with SCOTUS on October 14, 2022.
• Asks the Court to answer two questions: (1) Whether state courts violate the elections clause in Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution by enforcing state constitutional limits on a state legislature’s power to regulate congressional elections; and (2) whether state courts violate the elections clause by dictating the results that congressional district maps must achieve or by crafting extraconstitutional rules for state legislatures to follow when drawing such maps.
• LWV/ACLU and Neiman Petitioners file briefs in opposition to the cert petition on December 19, 2022.
• The case Huffman v Neiman has been distributed for Conference.
• Next deadline is February 17, 2023

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GOP lawsuit at SCOTUS

• Huffman Arguments -
• “Most broadly, the Ohio Supreme Court incorrectly read Article XIX to impose a judicially enforceable limit on the legislature’s authority under the Elections Clause.”
• More narrowly, the Ohio Supreme Court unlawfully robed itself with the mantle of the legislature and created rules governing congressional elections.
• Our Rebuttal -
• The Legislature (and the people of Ohio) expressly addressed the issue of partisan gerrymandering and specifically authorized the Supreme Court of Ohio to do precisely what it did.
• At no point did the Ohio court propose a remedial plan of its own. Rather, it did what the Legislature had directed it to do—assess whether the plan unduly favored one party in violation of Article XIX.
• The Supreme Court of Ohio expressly stated that it was for the Legislature (or Commission, should the Legislature fail) to draw a new plan. The map drawing power of the Legislature was never curtailed; it was expressly preserved.
• Will Moore v Harper become moot?
• New NC Supreme Court agrees to rehear underlying case
• Hearing in NC set for March 14, 2023

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Ohio General Assembly District Maps

Andrew Green

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Central Ohio Inset

Proposed House Map

https://davesredistricting.org/join/cb9831f8-86d1-428c-804e-1e5842881088

Proposed House Map

Northwest Ohio Inset

Northeast Ohio Inset

Dayton Area Inset

Southwest Ohio Inset

Proposed Senate Map

Central Ohio Inset

https://davesredistricting.org/join/ce0ca604-d8ef-41d7-91a0-5bfe9f8b62fd

Northwest Ohio Inset

Northeast Ohio Inset

Southwest Ohio Inset

Dayton Area Inset

Proposed House Map

Alternative Configurations: Northwest Ohio

House:

Senate:

Alternative Configurations: Northwest Ohio

House:

Senate:

Alternative Configurations: Northeast Ohio

House:

Senate:

Alternative Configurations: West/Southwest Ohio

House:

Senate:

House Map Compactness

Senate Map Compactness

House Map Partisan Bias

Senate Map Partisan Bias

House Map Partisanship

Senate Map Partisanship

What’s ahead: A New Ballot Initiative?

Things we need before we start:

• Money
• Language
• Coalition
• Decision in Moore v Harper

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Things we will be doing to get ready:

• Reboot Speakers Bureau
• Education, research, social media outreach
• Public input
• Increase our footprint
• Fundraising activities

What’s she talking about?

Householder Trial Resources from Common Cause

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For the Householder/Borges public corruption trial, Common Cause Ohio has prepared a number of helpful resources, including:

• An Informational website, with a timeline, FAQs, & annotated Key Resources.
• A History of the Scandal with recommendations for needed reforms
• A Petition for Action!

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Householder, Borges, & the System on Trial

In the trial’s first three weeks, prosecutors showed that Householder and Borges helped the scheme by insisting on secrecy. They deleted public records and urged allies and enemies to keep their secrets.

Timothy Black has not yet ruled on whether to show jurors a photo of the Ohio Statehouse with the FirstEnergy Stadium logo superimposed on it. Utility executives passed around the photo-shopped image on the day the bailout passed, and former FirstEnergy consultant Mike Dawson shared it

on Twitter.

Sign up for updates:

bit.ly/TRIALUPDATE

Next Fair Districts Huddle on March 8 at 6pm

Useful Links:

• Chief Justice O’Connor at the Columbus Metropolitan Club
• 2022 Adopted General Assembly & Congressional maps
• Get in touch: fairdistrictsohio2021@gmail.com
• Link to the Redistricting Timeline (bit.ly/RedistrictingTimeline)
• Visit us: fairdistrictsohio.org
• Please donate! Thank you.

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Appendix

House Map: Counties as Building Blocks

• About 75 House Districts in 24 counties have extra restrictions on how they can be drawn
• The following counties are required to contain as many full House Districts as their population allows and not more than 1 House District may be shared with another county/counties:
• Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Summit, Montgomery, Lucas, Butler, Stark, Lorain, Warren, Lake, Mahoning, Delaware, Clermont, Trumbull, Medina, Licking, Greene, Portage, Fairfield, Clark, Wood, Richland, Wayne

Senate Map: House Districts as Building Blocks

• Senate Districts must be comprised of exactly three entire House Districts
• 8 largest counties must have as many Senate Districts fully contained within it as possible and not more than 1 Senate District may be shared with another county/counties
• Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Summit, Montgomery, Lucas, Butler, Stark
• 16 counties mid-sized counties must be wholly contained in one Senate District
• Lorain, Warren, Lake, Mahoning, Delaware, Clermont, Trumbull, Medina, Licking, Greene, Portage, Fairfield, Clark, Wood, Richland, Wayne
• These 3 requirements can render an otherwise valid House Map invalid

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Incompatible County Pairings-Central Ohio

Franklin & Delaware

Franklin & Licking

Delaware & Licking

Incompatible County Pairings-Northeast Ohio

Cuyahoga & Lorain

Cuyahoga & Medina*

Mahoning & Trumbull

Summit & Medina*

Summit & Stark

Mahoning & Portage

21-7 Dilemma in 7 Northeast Ohio Counties

• Populations and previously discussed restrictions require that 21 House Districts & 7 Senate Districts be fully contained in these 7 counties
• However, the population of these counties are closer to that of 22 House Districts than to 21
• Districts in these 7 counties must be, on average, 3.7% overpopulated (the legal limit is 5%)

21-7 Dilemma: Option 1

• County Grouping 1 (18 HDs, 6 SDs)
• Cuyahoga, Summit, Lake, Geauga, Ashtabula
• Districts must be, on average, 4.4% overpopulated (limit is 5%)
• County Grouping 2 (3 HDs, 1 SD)
• Trumbull, Portage
• Districts must be, on average, 1.7% overpopulated (limit is 5%)

21-7 Dilemma: Option 2

• County Grouping 1 (12 HDs, 4 SDs)
• Cuyahoga, Lake
• Districts must be, on average, 4.7% overpopulated (limit is 5%)
• County Grouping 2 (9 HDs, 3 SDs)
• Trumbull, Portage, Trumbull, Ashtabula, Geauga
• Districts must be, on average, 2.3% overpopulated (limit is 5%)

Additional Requirements

• There may be no more than one split city, township, or village in any House District
• The following cities and townships may not be split in any House or Senate District:
• Parma, Canton, Lorain, Hamilton, Youngstown, West Chester Twp (Butler County), Green Twp (Hamilton County)

Partisan Bias Metrics by Election-House

Partisan Bias Metrics by Election-Senate

Partisan Performance of Various Maps by Election