Rep. Russo: Republicans Fail to Introduce Map, Miss Deadline for Bipartisan Congressional Redistricting

COLUMBUS — State Representative Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) today slammed the Republican-controlled Joint Committee on Congressional Redistricting’s failure to advance any fair, constitutional maps, calling it another broken promise to the people of Ohio.

“Unsurprisingly, we are seeing more of the same from the Republican majority who do not believe in fairness, transparency, or honoring the will of the people,” said Rep. Russo. “The committee heard from Ohioans over two days, and it’s abundantly clear that Ohioans are frustrated with partisan politics and gerrymandered maps that diminish their voice and skew real representation. I fully expect more cheating and rigged maps when the Republicans finally decide to release their map to the public.”

Now that the Republican-controlled legislature has failed to introduce and pass a new congressional map as outlined in the Ohio Constitution, the process moves to the Republican-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission. That commission has until October 31st to vote on a bipartisan map. If Republicans fail to act again, the process returns to the legislature where it has until November 31st to pass a map by a simple majority.