Why is ‘Issue 1′ confusing Ohio voters once they get their ballot?

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Issue 1, an anti-gerrymandering measure on the 2024 ballot, has received a lot of voter criticism over the way it is presented when voting.

The measure would replace the current seven politician redistricting committee (filled with two democrats and five republicans) with a 15-person redistricting board.

That board would be filled with all non-politicians (five republicans, five democrats and five independents). Any new Ohio political maps would then be decided by that group.

The new redistricting commission would “broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state” and require “fair and impartial political districts.”

Issue 1 is in response to the previous election map efforts, which saw seven unconstitutional maps created by the current re-districting commission.

Each time the Ohio Supreme Court said they were too gerrymandered, before the eighth and final map was deemed acceptable, ending the months long saga.

The language that a voter will see on their ballot for Issue 1 is almost two pages long, with an explanation of the measure written by the Ohio Ballot Board (filled by two democrats, two republicans and (R) Secretary of State Frank LaRose). It is very different than what the full Issue 1 amendment says.

The group “Citizens not Politicians” who created Issue 1, appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court for the language to be re-written, claiming it was misleading and does not have “a clear and accurate summary” of the amendment as required by the Ohio Constitution.

The Supreme Court agreed to minor changes, however the majority of the language would remain the same.

The decision was made with all Republicans justices (4) saying the language should remain, and the Democratic justices (3) saying it should change.

According to Case Western Reserve University Law Professor Jonathan Entin, he believes the language that has been presented on the ballot does not give a neutral view of the Issue itself, almost urging voters to vote “No”.

“If people rely only on the ballot language, they are going to see something that is skewed in opposition to Issue 1,” Entin said.

Entin says the reason the language is not taken directly from the written amendment is due to length. The entire 17-page amendment is just impractical to have on an election ballot, so condensing is needed. On the opposite end, it still needs to be explained thoroughly due to the complexity.

“This is a fairly complicated measure to begin with,” Professor Entin said. “So it’s not like you could have a single paragraph with 200 words and capture everything that is in there.”

Secretary LaRose’s office says the language on the ballot is accurate, encouraging confused voters to research the full amendment prior to voting, something that can be done at your polling location.

“The summary approved by the ballot board is fair, factual, and was upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court. It accurately identifies the substance of the proposed amendment. Ohio voters can find the ballot language, full amendment text, and official arguments both for and against the amendment by visiting our website at OhioSOS.gov The full amendment is also posted at voting locations in all 88 counties.”

Professor Entin agrees, saying that a ballot should never be the first impression of a voting measure.

“I think people should not rely on the ballot language,” Entin said. “Because the language does seem to encourage people to vote ‘No’.”

When reached for comment, spokesperson for “Yes on 1″ Chris Davey said:

“Ohio voters won’t be fooled and will vote Yes on 1 to end gerrymandering. Here’s what you need to do before you vote: Know that the ballot language is false and misleading and has no impact on what the constitutional amendment itself actually says and does. It’s right there in the amendment: (Section 6[B]): “ban partisan gerrymandering and prohibit the use of redistricting plans that favor one political party and disfavor others.” Read the legally certified petition summary that was approved by the Ohio Attorney General and is available here. That legally approved summary is what more than a half million Ohio Republicans, Democrats and Independents read when they signed the petitions to put the amendment on the ballot".

While the ballot language may cause confusion, 19 News' election coverage will continue to provide clarity through Nov. 5.