DeMora Condemns Cowardly Supreme Court's Approval of Misleading Issue 1 Ballot Language

Today, state Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) condemned the Ohio Supreme Court's decision to approve dishonest ballot language for November’s Issue 1, written by the same illegal supermajority that Issue 1 would protect Ohioans from.

“All Ohioans deserve the opportunity to go into the ballot booth and make a clear and unbiased decision about whether they believe that citizens should choose their politicians or if politicians should choose their voters,” said DeMora. “But the corrupt Republican majority on the Ohio Supreme just took that away from every Ohio voter. Our Republican elected officials don’t care about morals, decency, or even common sense, they only want power. The same group of people that said that boneless chicken wings can have bones in them showed us once again that they will happily lie, cheat, and steal to keep that power.”

The ballot summary language, which was described as “perhaps the most stunningly stilted ballot language that Ohio voters have ever seen” by Justice Jennifer Brunner, states that Issue 1 – the anti-gerrymandering amendment – would “require gerrymandering.” In reality, the amendment would protect citizens from gerrymandering through a change in the Ohio constitution so that nonpartisan experts, former judges, and citizens would control the redistricting process, not self-serving politicians.

In his dissenting opinion, Justice Michael Donnelly said, “While the majority’s Amelia Bedelia approach to the law and the absurdity of the majority’s conclusions might make you laugh, it should also make you outraged.”