The panel drawing new lines for Ohio House and Senate districts was supposed to have those maps done by Wednesday and missed that constitutional deadline. A coalition of watchdog groups keeping eyes on Ohio’s redistricting process says more needs to be done about that.
The Fair Districts Coalition wanted the Ohio Redistricting Commission to convene earlier this summer to talk about the process. But the first meeting didn’t happen till Aug. 6, and the commission missed its first map deadline Sept. 1. Majority Republicans on the commission blame a delay in census data. But Jen Miller with the Ohio League of Women Voters says that shouldn’t stop the process.
“There should be hearings specifically about the technical details that could start right now even as they are working on maps," Miller said.
Earlier this year, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost sued the federal government for delaying census data, but he is not taking legal action over the maps not being drawn by the Sept. 1 deadline.
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