The justices are upholding an Orwellian lie that accuses an amendment to end gerrymandering of doing the exact opposite of what it actually does.

In November, Ohio residents will have an opportunity to vote on Issue 1, a constitutional amendment that would finally abolish the state’s extreme partisan gerrymandering. Voters will not, however, be informed of this fact on the ballot. Instead, the Ohio Supreme Court’s Republican majority ruled Monday that the amendment will be described in egregiously misleading terms on the ballot itself, with ultra-biased language designed to turn citizens against it. Incredibly, a proposal that would end gerrymandering will be framed as a proposal to require gerrymandering, a patently false representation of its intent and effect. The court’s 4–3 decision marks yet another effort to subvert democracy in Ohio by Republicans who fear that the citizenry—when given a voice on the matter—might dare to loosen their stranglehold on power.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/09/ohio-supreme-court-voter-fraud-gop.html

  • skoberlink@lemmy.world
    1·
    7 days ago

    I don’t think the article included it and it’s a little difficult to find the phrasing.

    I found a sample ballot

    https://www.boe.ohio.gov/clark/c/upload/ELEC_BallotProofs.pdf

    The phrasing there is

    To create an appointed redistricting commission not elected by or subject to removal by the voters of the state

    However a vote of “Yes” would establish a non-partisan (or, IMO more accurately, a mixed partisan) committee of 15 (5R, 5D, 5 other) where a majority of the committee must approve the redistricting.

    The extended description starts with this

    1. Repeal constitutional protections against gerrymandering approved by nearly three-quarters of Ohio electors participating in the statewide elections of 2015 and 2018, and eliminate the longstanding ability of Ohio citizens to hold their representatives accountable for establishing fair state legislative and congressional districts.

    Technically all of this is correct but I can absolutely see how it’s misleading voters.

    Full disclosure, I’m not a lawyer or political scientist and I do not live in Ohio.