The new year could include many different developments in the redistricting arena, but one thing is for sure: new maps have to be on the agenda.
But this time around, majority leaders may not have as much trouble getting maps through the current approving authority: The Ohio Supreme Court.
With the departure of Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor due to age limits, Justice Sharon Kennedy was elected to take the top spot, and Kennedy made clear how she felt about redistricting in the past, accusing the court majority of judicial overreach in rejecting maps as unconstitutional.
The maps have gone through the ringer: Statehouse district maps have been rejected by the state’s highest court five times, and congressional maps have been turned down twice.
After the last round of rejection, GOP members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission turned to a federal U.S. District Court for an answer, which came in the form of the temporary approval of a map passed in February, but still deemed unconstitutional by the state supreme court.
The three-judge panel in federal court said they did not intend for the map to last ten years, or even the four years laid out in the constitutional amendment that reformed the process. The ORC could pass a map without bipartisan support, but the map would only last four years.
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