The Ohio Redistricting Commission Thursday voted to resubmit maps to the Ohio Supreme Court that the court has already rejected as illegal.
Is the fifth time the charm? The answer is no because the map that was submitted was actually a repeat map from the commission's third submission.
University of Cincinnati political scientist David Niven said the redistricting commission isn't even trying because either way, they win with a map that favors the GOP and the punishment for the illegal submission could be non-existent.
"There's an endpoint even as this story seems never-ending, even as it seems like this is Groundhog Day without Bill Murray," Nevin said. "The comedy there has to be an endpoint and they've played this out as if the delay is to their advantage and it has been so far."
Every map the redistricting commission has drawn so far has been thrown out because the court determined them to be unfair. Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who's on the commission, said they resubmitted their third try at the map because it's already programmed in the county boards of elections system. He claimed it's the only option in order to hold a primary for state senate and house seats in August.
What can the supreme court do?
The court could hold the commission in contempt which would likely incorporate hefty fines.
Here's the catch, individual commission members would not be responsible for paying the fines. The commission overall would be responsible, which means the fines would be paid with tax dollars. Essentially there are no real consequences for commission members and that's why experts have said there's little incentive to move forward with creating maps that the supreme court would deem legal.
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