In a press conference Tuesday, members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus, along with a voter advocate from the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, spoke of Issue 1 redistricting reform as a way forward for communities of color and the state as a whole.

Opponents of Ohio’s Issue 1 redistricting reform claim it would be bad for communities of color. Supporters of the proposal to replace politicians with a citizens commission point to the ways the current maps crack and pack Black voters.

Two members from Michigan’s independent citizens redistricting commission stand on opposite sides of the campaign for the Issue 1 ballot initiative that would establish a similar commission in Ohio by removing politicians from the process of drawing districts.

At an Ohio Issue 1 forum Wednesday, both sides criticized Ohio’s current redistricting system, but supporters of the proposed amendment said it would stop gerrymandering by removing politicians from the process, while opponents said it would create other problems.

Over the objections of its Democratic members, the Ohio Ballot Board approved minor changes Wednesday to the ballot language for Issue 1.

Six of eight contested provisions in ballot language for a proposed state constitutional amendment to alter the drawing of legislative and congressional districts can remain as is, while two must be revised, the Supreme Court of Ohio ruled Monday.

Advocates pushing an anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio to remove politicians from mapmaking in favor of a citizen commission said the state’s ballot board should be forced to start over on summary language for the November proposal.

A proposed anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio that would remove politicians from the redistricting process in favor of a citizens commission has gathered enough signatures to proceed to voters on the November ballot.

Reporting more than 731,000 signatures submitted to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office, Citizens Not Politicians said it cleared a massive hurdle in their plan to reform the state’s redistricting process by replacing politicians with a citizen commission.

Signature collection continues for an anti-gerrymandering ballot measure in Ohio that would replace politicians on the redistricting commission with citizens. As the July deadline approaches, supporters are pointing to a new study showing how uncompetitive Statehouse races are.

Former Ohio Supreme Court justice Yvette McGee Brown remembers when the Ohio General Assembly was run by Vern Riffe and Stan Aronoff, bipartisan leaders in the days before term limits and the Republican supermajority.

Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman spoke out Thursday against a proposed constitutional amendment to remove politicians from the redistricting process and give authority over state redistricting to an independent, citizen-led commission.

Some of the leaders of a campaign to reform redistricting in Ohio say the process of drawing districts may be complicated, but making necessary changes to end gerrymandering isn’t: “Political insiders have no business being in the process.”

Business leaders from Ohio are standing in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would change the way redistricting occurs in the state by removing politicians from the process in favor of a citizen commission.

After the Ohio Supreme Court put a damper on efforts to challenge the current Statehouse redistricting plan, anti-gerrymandering advocates are moving on, with their sights on redistricting reform via the ballot box.