SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Protesters demonstrate outside the Supreme Court as justices considered partisan gerrymandering. (Photo: Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE)
'Victory for Ohio Voters' as Court Strikes Down GOP's Gerrymandered Map
"Voters must choose their elected officials. Not the other way around."
May 03, 2019
Voting rights advocates celebrated Friday after a panel of three federal judges struck down Ohio's congressional map, ruling that district lines were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to benefit the Republican Party.
"For far too long partisan gerrymandering has plagued our politics, divided our communities, and weakened the power of the people's voice and vote in government."
--Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio
In a unanimous ruling (pdf), the judges said they were "convinced by the evidence" that the Republican-drawn congressional map amounted to an "intentional and effective" partisan gerrymander.
"The bottom line is that the dominant party in state government manipulated district lines in an attempt to control electoral outcomes and thus direct the political ideology of the state's congressional delegation," the judges wrote.
"Today's decision is a victory for Ohio voters," Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said in a statement. "For far too long partisan gerrymandering has plagued our politics, divided our communities, and weakened the power of the people's voice and vote in government."
The court ruled that Ohio Republicans cannot use the gerrymandered map in future elections and gave lawmakers until June to draw up a replacement that does not violate the Constitution.
\u201cThis decision follows the trial in which the map was rightly dubbed a \u2018geographic monstrosity.\u2019\n\nVoters must choose their elected officials. Not the other way around.\nhttps://t.co/ZwveYF7HTU\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1556904368
As Politicoreported, "Republicans have dominated Ohio's congressional delegation since the map was enacted in 2011, winning 12 of the state's 16 congressional seats in all four elections held under the map."
Ari Berman, a reporter for Mother Jones, noted that Republicans maintained their overwhelming advantage despite winning just 52 percent of the vote in the 2018 midterm elections.
\u201cBig news for voting rights: 3-judge federal court unanimously strikes down Ohio GOP-drawn Congressional map as unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Republicans have 12-4 advantage even though they only got 52% of vote in 2018 https://t.co/I6GHZ3MDms\u201d— Ari Berman (@Ari Berman) 1556904330
The ACLU of Ohio, which challenged the Republican map in court, celebrated the judges' ruling as a major victory for voting rights.
"The court issued a meticulously detailed opinion, concluding that Ohio's map was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, and ordered the state to enact a new remedial plan by June 14," Freda Levenson, legal director for ACLU Ohio, said in a statement. "This opinion, declaring Ohio an egregiously gerrymandered state, completely validates every one of our claims and theories in every respect."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Voting rights advocates celebrated Friday after a panel of three federal judges struck down Ohio's congressional map, ruling that district lines were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to benefit the Republican Party.
"For far too long partisan gerrymandering has plagued our politics, divided our communities, and weakened the power of the people's voice and vote in government."
--Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio
In a unanimous ruling (pdf), the judges said they were "convinced by the evidence" that the Republican-drawn congressional map amounted to an "intentional and effective" partisan gerrymander.
"The bottom line is that the dominant party in state government manipulated district lines in an attempt to control electoral outcomes and thus direct the political ideology of the state's congressional delegation," the judges wrote.
"Today's decision is a victory for Ohio voters," Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said in a statement. "For far too long partisan gerrymandering has plagued our politics, divided our communities, and weakened the power of the people's voice and vote in government."
The court ruled that Ohio Republicans cannot use the gerrymandered map in future elections and gave lawmakers until June to draw up a replacement that does not violate the Constitution.
\u201cThis decision follows the trial in which the map was rightly dubbed a \u2018geographic monstrosity.\u2019\n\nVoters must choose their elected officials. Not the other way around.\nhttps://t.co/ZwveYF7HTU\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1556904368
As Politicoreported, "Republicans have dominated Ohio's congressional delegation since the map was enacted in 2011, winning 12 of the state's 16 congressional seats in all four elections held under the map."
Ari Berman, a reporter for Mother Jones, noted that Republicans maintained their overwhelming advantage despite winning just 52 percent of the vote in the 2018 midterm elections.
\u201cBig news for voting rights: 3-judge federal court unanimously strikes down Ohio GOP-drawn Congressional map as unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Republicans have 12-4 advantage even though they only got 52% of vote in 2018 https://t.co/I6GHZ3MDms\u201d— Ari Berman (@Ari Berman) 1556904330
The ACLU of Ohio, which challenged the Republican map in court, celebrated the judges' ruling as a major victory for voting rights.
"The court issued a meticulously detailed opinion, concluding that Ohio's map was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, and ordered the state to enact a new remedial plan by June 14," Freda Levenson, legal director for ACLU Ohio, said in a statement. "This opinion, declaring Ohio an egregiously gerrymandered state, completely validates every one of our claims and theories in every respect."
Voting rights advocates celebrated Friday after a panel of three federal judges struck down Ohio's congressional map, ruling that district lines were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to benefit the Republican Party.
"For far too long partisan gerrymandering has plagued our politics, divided our communities, and weakened the power of the people's voice and vote in government."
--Catherine Turcer, Common Cause Ohio
In a unanimous ruling (pdf), the judges said they were "convinced by the evidence" that the Republican-drawn congressional map amounted to an "intentional and effective" partisan gerrymander.
"The bottom line is that the dominant party in state government manipulated district lines in an attempt to control electoral outcomes and thus direct the political ideology of the state's congressional delegation," the judges wrote.
"Today's decision is a victory for Ohio voters," Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, said in a statement. "For far too long partisan gerrymandering has plagued our politics, divided our communities, and weakened the power of the people's voice and vote in government."
The court ruled that Ohio Republicans cannot use the gerrymandered map in future elections and gave lawmakers until June to draw up a replacement that does not violate the Constitution.
\u201cThis decision follows the trial in which the map was rightly dubbed a \u2018geographic monstrosity.\u2019\n\nVoters must choose their elected officials. Not the other way around.\nhttps://t.co/ZwveYF7HTU\u201d— ACLU (@ACLU) 1556904368
As Politicoreported, "Republicans have dominated Ohio's congressional delegation since the map was enacted in 2011, winning 12 of the state's 16 congressional seats in all four elections held under the map."
Ari Berman, a reporter for Mother Jones, noted that Republicans maintained their overwhelming advantage despite winning just 52 percent of the vote in the 2018 midterm elections.
\u201cBig news for voting rights: 3-judge federal court unanimously strikes down Ohio GOP-drawn Congressional map as unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Republicans have 12-4 advantage even though they only got 52% of vote in 2018 https://t.co/I6GHZ3MDms\u201d— Ari Berman (@Ari Berman) 1556904330
The ACLU of Ohio, which challenged the Republican map in court, celebrated the judges' ruling as a major victory for voting rights.
"The court issued a meticulously detailed opinion, concluding that Ohio's map was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, and ordered the state to enact a new remedial plan by June 14," Freda Levenson, legal director for ACLU Ohio, said in a statement. "This opinion, declaring Ohio an egregiously gerrymandered state, completely validates every one of our claims and theories in every respect."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.