A ruling issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit took effect on May 28, ordering the enactment of state legislative maps for Ohio’s 2022 elections and setting the legislative primary date for August 2, 2022. The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved the maps selected by the court in February 2022. The court ruled on April 20 and said the maps would take effect if state court proceedings had not produced an alternative by May 28.
The Ohio Redistricting Commission initially approved a set of legislative maps in a 5-2 vote along party lines on September 16, 2021. The Ohio Supreme Court struck down those maps in a 4-3 decision on January 12, 2022, and ordered the commission to redraw them. Since then, the state supreme court has rejected four sets of maps submitted by the commission, including the February maps enacted by the federal court. The commission initially approved those maps on February 24 in a 4-3 vote and approved them a second time on May 5 in a 4-3 vote. State Auditor Keith Faber (R) joined the two Democratic members of the commission in voting against the maps. The state supreme court rejected both submissions.
The state court proceedings are ongoing, with another deadline for revised maps set for June 3. The federal ruling applies to the maps for 2022 elections, meaning the state court proceedings may produce maps for subsequent legislative elections.
