Democrats Respond to Objections Filed by Voter Advocates in Redistricting Lawsuits

Ohio Redistricting Commission Co-Chair Sen. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) today filed with the Ohio Supreme Court a response to the recent objections filed by petitioners against the latest state legislative district maps passed by the Redistricting Commission’s five Republican members. Sen. Sykes and Leader Russo both voted against the new maps on Jan. 22. “We are representing the vast majority of Ohioans who wanted a change in how we draw the state legislative maps. We won’t be silenced when it comes to the people's right to vote in fair districts and to have their votes counted on equal footing. This process was secretive and closed off from the public, and we wanted to be sure the Ohio Supreme Court knew what was happening behind the scenes. That's why we took this drastic step and spoke up—much like the hundreds of thousands of Ohioans who spoke up, not once but twice, for fair maps," said Democrats. The two Democratic Commissioners asked the Court to again invalidate the maps adopted by the Republican Commissioners, order the Commission to draw a map that complies with the Ohio Constitution and the Court’s pronouncements and direct the Legislature and Secretary of State to make any necessary adjustments to the election calendar, including the candidate petition filing deadline on Feb. 2. Democrats were denied legal representation at this stage of the litigation by Attorney General Dave Yost, despite previously having representation and submitting separate arguments in the lawsuits. Democrats filed today pro se.