League of Women Voters of Ohio v. DeWine (Congressional Challenge)

On November 30, 2021, the ACLU and co-counsel filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Ohio (LWVO), A. Philip Randolph Institute of Ohio, and several individuals. The suit challenged Ohio’s newly-drawn congressional map. The complaint argued that the new map was drawn to guarantee a Republican majority in the state’s congressional delegation in violation of Ohio Constitutional prohibitions on partisan gerrymandering. Plaintiffs asked the court to declare the new map invalid and order the creation of fair congressional districts. The Ohio Supreme Court ultimately struck down the map and ordered the Legislature to redraw the entire map within 30 days of the decision.

After the Legislature failed to pass a second map, the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed a new map on March 2, 2022. On March 22, the same organizations and individuals again challenged the map as a partisan gerrymander, alleging that the new map was almost identical to that struck down and was therefore unconstitutional. On July 19, the Ohio Supreme Court again struck down the congressional map for violating the Ohio Constitution. In direct contravention of the Court’s order, neither the General Assembly nor Redistricting Commission passed a plan. Because Republican lawmakers waited out the clock, however, the illegal map would have to be used for the 2022 election cycle.

On Oct. 14, 2022, Ohio Republican lawmakers filed a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to review the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the state’s congressional map under the Independent State Legislature theory. On June 30, 2023, the Supreme Court vacated the Ohio Supreme Court’s July 19, 2022 order and remanded the case back to the Ohio Supreme Court in light of its ruling in Moore v. Harper. On Sept. 7, 2023, after becoming clear that Republican lawmakers would never comply with a Court order invalidating the plans, the Ohio Supreme Court dismissed the case without prejudice.