Ohio Voters File Motion to Intervene in Federal Redistricting Suit that Would Impose Unfair Maps

Last night petitioners from Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission — a lawsuit in progress in Ohio Supreme Court challenging partisan gerrymandering in new legislative maps — filed a motion to intervene as plaintiffs in Gonidakis et al v. Ohio Redistricting Commission and Frank Larose, a lawsuit filed in federal court on February 18. Mike Gonidakis, the president of Ohio Right to Life, and the other plaintiffs in the federal case seek to compel the Ohio Secretary of State to accept a recent iteration of new legislative maps drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The Ohio Supreme Court had rejected those maps because their district lines violate the state constitution’s prohibition on partisan gerrymandering. The commission did not meet the court’s deadline for curing these violations, instead stating on February 18 that it had reached an “impasse.”

In their motion to intervene in Gonidakis et al, the petitioners argue that the federal lawsuit endangers their interests in having fair maps drawn for Ohio voters, as their case in Ohio Supreme Court is ongoing. Currently, the Ohio Supreme Court is reviewing responses from the commission to its February 18 order to show cause for failing to meet the deadline for new maps.

The petitioners, who are represented by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and Reed Smith, are the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, CAIR-Ohio, Ohio Environmental Council, Ahmad Aboukar, Crystal Bryant, Samuel Gresham Jr., Prentiss Haney, Mikayla Lee, and Pierrette “Petee” Talley.

Yurij Rudensky, senior counsel in the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, had the following comment:

“Our clients are seeking to intervene in this federal lawsuit so that those refusing to follow the state constitution don’t get an easy way out. The commission’s most recent maps are not constitutional. They are not just. They would distribute political power in Ohio unfairly, with ramifications for Ohioans’ lives for years to come.”

Brian Sutherland, partner at Reed Smith, had the following comment:

“The Ohio Supreme Court must be given time to fulfill its responsibilities in Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission. The court hasn’t finished its work, nor has the commission.”

The motion and more filings and background on Ohio Organizing Collaborative v. Ohio Redistricting Commission are available here.

Related resources:

• “Petitioners Ask Ohio Supreme Court to Enforce Order Against the Ohio Redistricting Commission” Bren­nan Center for Justice press release, Feb. 18, 2022
• “Ohio Supreme Court Orders Second Redraw­ing of Legis­lat­ive Maps Due to Partisan Gerry­man­der­ing,” Bren­nan Center for Justice press release, Feb. 7, 2022
• “Victory for Ohioans: Ohio Supreme Court Throws Out Legis­lat­ive Maps for Illegal Partisan Gerry­man­der­ing,” Bren­nan Center for Justice press release, Jan. 12, 2022
• “COVID Inequit­ies Show Why Ohio’s Fair Map Mandate Must Not Be Ignored” by Jeniece Brock, policy and advocacy director, Ohio Organ­iz­ing Collab­or­at­ive 
• “Ohio Take Note: Fair­ness Is a Univer­sal Value” by Tala Dahbour, policy director, CAIR-Ohio 
• “How Gerry­man­der­ing Contrib­utes to Envir­on­mental Injustice” by Callia Téllez, envir­on­mental policy fellow, Ohio Envir­on­mental Coun­cil 
• “Lawmaker’s ‘Rigged’ Map Would Steal Ohioans’ Right to Repres­ent­a­tion” by Kath­leen Clyde and Greg Moore, co-chairs, Ohio Citizens Redis­trict­ing Commis­sion 
• “We’re Suing Ohio Over Its Gerry­mandered Voting District Maps” by Alicia Bannon, Yurij Rudensky, and Julia Kirschen­baum, Bren­nan Center for Justice