The outcome of the election could change as county boards of election report Election Day results tonight. This story will be updated as additional results are reported by the Ohio Secretary of State.
If Issue 1 is approved by a simple majority of Ohio voters, the process by which the state draws its federal congressional and state legislative district boundaries will undergo a near-total transformation.
The amendment would ax two prior voter-approved redistricting reforms and the state’s current politician redistricting commission and install an updated set of map-drawing rules to guide a new, appointed citizen redistricting panel meant to be devoid of political influence.
Issue 1 is meant to create a more “proportional” set of congressional and state legislative districts, meaning that if Ohio’s voting patterns show that eligible voters support candidates of a political party 60% of the time, then 60% of the state’s political boundaries should favor that same political party. Its impact could sway the balance of power both in Ohio’s legislature and in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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