Senate Democrats Condemn Deceptive Ballot Board Changes to Issue 1

Today, Senate Democratic Leader Nickie J. Antonio (D-Lakewood) and state Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) responded to the changes made by the Ohio Ballot Board to the misleading, deceptive, and argumentative Republican ballot language for Issue 1, more commonly known as the “Citizens Not Politicians” redistricting constitutional amendment.

“I’m proud of the work that Senator Hicks-Hudson and Representative Upchurch have done on the Ohio Ballot Board to fight for the integrity and clarity of the ballot language,” said Antonio. “It’s unfortunate that the majority continues to try to confuse, mislead, and deceive Ohio voters. I’m confident that Ohioans will see through these partisan games and put redistricting back into the hands of citizens, not politicians.”

State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) represents the Senate Democrats on the Ohio Ballot Board and has repeatedly voted against the Republican efforts to adopt misleading ballot language for Issue 1 in November.

“Words matter and the ballot language is obviously written to deceive Ohio’s voters and to misconstrue a plainly anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative as something sinister and anti-democratic,” said Hicks-Hudson. “The entire thing should be re-written, not just adjusted around the margins as the Court’s partisan majority believes.” 

“The Constitution explicitly bars this kind of willfully misleading language from appearing in front of voters. I remain confident that the people of Ohio will not fall for these desperate attacks on a good government reform to end the partisan gerrymandering. that was so recently practiced and approved – by the very people involved in the board’s unconstitutional ballot language and this Court decision.”