The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday granted the dismissal of two legal challenges to the map the court previously deemed to be unconstitutionally gerrymandered in favor of Republicans.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuits, which include the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, and the A. Philip Randolph Institute of Ohio, had sought the dismissal of their own cases, saying they don’t want voters to be in limbo ahead of the 2024 election.
Some additional context from an earlier AP News article:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Ohio and others, told the Ohio Supreme Court that they are willing to live with the U.S. House map approved March 2, 2022, and used in last year’s elections, “(i)n lieu of the continued turmoil brought about by cycles of redrawn maps and ensuing litigation.”
Democrats netted wins under that map — securing five of 15 U.S. House seats, compared to the four of 16 they had held previously.
The dismissal request also comes as advocates prepare a redistricting reform amendment for Ohio’s 2024 ballot. After an initial rejection, the group Citizens Not Politicians resubmitted their petition language Tuesday.
They shouldn’t have given in.
Somebody feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but reading between the lines here, it looks like the Ohio Supreme Court is majority Republican, and the risk of maintaining the litigation would be that the Court install a map that’s even worse since the swing vote retired (at least according to the linked AP article). If this view is correct, it means this isn’t giving in so much as conceding that the status quo is as good as it gets.
The State Legislature is GOP controlled and they refused to abide by a previous Ohio SC ruling against the maps above.