October 17

Both sides offer options in redistricting referendum case

Supreme Court gets redistricting referendum case.

By William Hershey, Columbus Bureau Updated 2:06 PM Friday, October 14, 2011

Dayton Daily News

COLUMBUS — Both sides in the high-stakes legal battle over a referendum on Ohio’s 16 new U.S. House districts Thursday offered the Ohio Supreme Court alternatives to prevent potential electoral chaos.

Lawyers for House Speaker William Batchelder, R-Medina, and Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, said that even if the high court permits the issue to go before voters that it should allow the new districts to be in effect for the November 2012 elections.

Meanwhile, lawyers for the Democratic group calling for a referendum said that if the Supreme Court says “yes” to their request the legislature could adopt a new redistricting plan and move back the scheduled March 6, 2012, primary to give candidates and election officials time to adjust.
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/politics/both-sides-offer-options-in-redistricting-referendum-case-1268729.html

Early voting at board of elections headquarters will likely be restricted despite pending referendum on GOP-backed election law

Published: Friday, October 14, 2011, 6:00 AM     Updated: Friday, October 14, 2011, 7:54 AM

By Joe Guillen, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With a controversial new state election law on hold, Cuyahoga County voters might have thought they could once again visit the Board of Elections the weekend before election day to cast early ballots.
But it looks like they won't get that opportunity.
A little-noticed provision in another new law about to take effect appears to restrict in-person absentee voting.
As a result, boards of election across the state likely will not be able to hold in-person absentee voting during the three days before the Nov. 8 election, officials said. The option available to voters looking to avoid lines and other election day headaches has been especially popular in Cuyahoga County in recent years.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/10/early_voting_at_board_of_elect.html

Ohio Supreme Court orders secretary of state to consider referendum vote on new Ohio congressional maps

Published: Friday, October 14, 2011, 7:04 PM     Updated: Saturday, October 15, 2011, 2:59 AM

By Sabrina Eaton, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's Supreme Court has cleared the way for a referendum on a new congressional redistricting plan that Ohio Republicans pushed through the state legislature in September.

The unanimous decision announced Friday night throws the state's congressional district lines into confusion and is likely to threaten Ohio's ability to hold its congressional primary in March, as originally planned.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/10/ohio_supreme_court_orders_refe.html

Ohio's redistricting dustup: editorial

Published: Sunday, October 16, 2011, 8:42 PM

By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board The Plain Dealer

An Ohio Supreme Court ruling late Friday consigned Ohio's 16 new congressional districts to limbo, setting the stage for what's likely to be widespread electoral confusion in the 2012 elections.

Mulish partisanship in the General Assembly got Ohio into this mess. Only mature leadership in Columbus -- never plentiful -- can get Ohio out of it.
Redistricting was necessary because Ohio in 2012 has the right to elect only 16 U.S. House members, not the current 18. And Republicans in Ohio's House and state Senate drew 16 new districts -- most notably, squeezing Toledo Democrat Marcy Kaptur and Cleveland's Dennis Kucinich into one snakelike district.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2011/10/ohios_redistricting_dustup_edi.html

Court ruling throws 2012 elections into chaos

5:41 AM, Oct. 16, 2011  |  

Written by

Howard Wilkinson

Cincinnati Enquirer

The Ohio Supreme Court’s decision to allow Democrats to go forward with a petition drive to stop the Republican congressional redistricting plan has thrown the 2012 congressional elections into chaos.

Candidates for Congress – incumbents and challengers, Republicans and Democrats – will have to sit on their hands for a while to see when they should file and if the districts they planned to file in will even exist.

It is not entirely clear yet, but it would appear now that congressional candidates will file petitions by the Dec. 7 deadline for districts that may no longer exist by the planned March 6 primary.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111015/NEWS01/110160322&Ref=AR

Northside woman in SB 5 ad spurs bill

6:27 PM, Oct. 15, 2011  |  

Written by

Paul E. Kostyu

Enquirer

Democrats, upset with what they think is a misappropriation of Cincinnati great-grandmother Marlene Quinn’s image, plan to introduce legislation to prevent the misuse of campaign material.

But state Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard, D-Columbus, didn’t have Quinn’s permission to name her legislation the "Marlene Quinn Protection Act." And after a press conference Friday, it’s clear the legislation is still a draft, so an introduction date is not clear.

After Heard’s press conference today, Democrats scrambled to contact Quinn, who said she wanted the legislation named after her great-grand-daughter, so now it is the "Zoey Protection Act." Democrats didn’t include her last name because they weren’t sure what it was -- it’s Quinn.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111014/NEWS0108/310140056/Northside-woman-SB-5-ad-spurs-bill

REDISTRICTING LAWSUIT PARTIES FILE FINAL ARGUMENTS, AWAIT HIGH COURT RULING ON REFERENDUM BID

Gongwer 10/13/11

The Ohio Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether the new Republican-drawn congressional districts should be subject to a referendum.
Opponents of the new maps (HB 319 ) and representatives of legislative leaders and Secretary of State Jon Husted on Thursday submitted their final arguments to the court, which plans to rule on the lawsuit based on those briefs rather than hold oral arguments.
Secretary Husted on Wednesday refused petitions from Ohioans for Fair Districts to begin the referendum process on the U.S. House and Senate seats reconfigured per the 2010 Census population counts - and the majority GOP's aims.
http://www.gongwer-oh.com/programming/news_articledisplay.cfm?article_ID=801980202&newsedition_id=8019802&locid=2