🗺️ Ohio Supreme Court Says Ohi-NO
The Ohio Supreme Court has tossed out a congressional map it deemed gerrymandered. The proposed districts would have given Republicans a 12-seat to 3 advantage over Democrats, despite them securing little more than 50 percent of votes in recent elections. “This is not what Ohio voters wanted or expected,’’ ruled the court, notes the New York Times.
State lawmakers have 30 days to redraw the map, or the duty is handed over to a redistricting commission.
Attacking The Vote
Ohio's case is playing out against the backdrop of a larger fight over the Vote in this country. Democrats in the US Senate are working to strike down the filibuster in order to pass voting rights legislation that aims to counter various gerrymandering and voter restriction laws being put into place by Republicans in various states.
The Verdict
Ohio's ruling is a success for capital-D Democracy, but the fate of the Vote cannot be determined on a state by state basis in the hopes that it'll survive.