The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled on Wednesday that the maps for the Ohio House and Senate districts must be redrawn, as they are considered unconstitutional.

The court ruled that the maps did not meet voter-approved provisions of the Ohio Constitution to reduce partisan political gerrymandering.

In a 4-3 decision, the court concluded that the maps were invalid because the Ohio Redistricting Commission did not attempt to draw legislative districts to correspond with the statewide voter preference of Ohioans.

The court went step by step with the redistricting process, noting that "all parties agreed that in statewide partisan elections over the past decade, Republican candidates had won 54% of the vote share, and Democratic candidates had won 46% of the vote share."

However, the Ohio House map adopted by the commission had favored republicans with 67 seats to 32 democrat seats, and the Senate map favored republicans with 23 seats to 10 democrat seats.

The court concluded that the maps did not meet the required proportionality in Article XI, Section 6B of the Constitution. 

The majority also ruled that the commission violated Article XI Section 6A, stating that no plan shall be drawn primarily to favor a political party.

Republican House and Senate leaders had argued the new provisions of the Constitution requiring districts to reflect on the statewide voting preferences were optional.

However, the court disagreed, with Justice Melody Stewart stating the following:

"When drawing a district plan, the commission must attempt to meet the standards set forth in Section 6."

The maps set the boundary lines for the 99 House seats and 33 Senate seats and will be used to conduct the 2022 elections, with the primaries being scheduled for May 3.

The court has ordered the commission to adopt a new plan within the next 10 days that complies with the Ohio Constitution, and stated that it will remain in jurisdiction "to review the plan that the commission adopts for compliance with our order."

Ohio Education Association President, Scott DiMauro praised the court's ruling in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. The statement reads as follows:

"The Ohio Education Association (OEA) applauds the wisdom of the Ohio Supreme Court in striking down the gerrymandered maps that would have denied Ohioans a real voice in the Statehouse. This is a huge victory for Ohio voters and Ohio schools, which are greatly impacted by the decisions of the state's elected lawmakers."

"OEA looks forward to seeing newly drawn, fair maps that that will reflect the will of the two-thirds of Ohio voters who demanded an end to Ohio's broken mapmaking process. Ohio voters deserve to choose their politicians, not the other way around. Today's Ohio Supreme Court Decision represents a major step toward making that a reality."

Ohio Democratic Party Chair, Elizabeth Walters also released a statement praising the court's decision:

"Twice, Ohioans have overwhelmingly demanded change and fair representation, and I'm glad that the Ohio Supreme Court listened. The Supreme Court today recognized what Ohioans already knew - GOP politicians tried to ram through an unconstitutional map that further rigs the state in favor of one party over another. Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, it’s imperative that the commission actually do their jobs this time and create maps that reflect our state, not a Republican party wish list.” 

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