The seven-member commission that will redraw Ohio House and Senate district maps meets Tuesday morning. Last week the Ohio Supreme Court ordered the new maps after ruling the previous are maps unconstitutionally gerrymandered, and set a deadline for producing those maps less than a week away.
Newly-elected House Democratic leader Allison Russo is the only new member of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, taking over for former leader Emilia Sykes. The commission approved the now-invalid maps on a party-line vote in September, after almost six weeks of work. But Russo said the new maps can be created by Monday’s deadline.
“I am confident that it can be done. Remember, we are not working from scratch here. There were literally thousands of maps that had been submitted from the public and as part of the original process,” Russo said.
Democrats and other Republicans on the commission said they weren’t involved in drawing the tossed-out maps, which were created by Republican legislative leaders’ staffers. Those leaders now say commission members will have access to each other’s staff.
The announcement notes the meeting on Tuesday, January 18 starts at 10 a.m. in Room 313 in the Statehouse. There's also a website that will be accepting public comments.
