The Columbus Dispatch's Excellent Graphic Presentation of Issue 1.
Ohio Supreme Court Allows Misleading Summary Language to Remain
On Saturday, September 14, 2024, the Columbus Dispatch published an excellent article and graphic presentation of Issue 1, the Citizens, Not Politicians initiative to establish a non-partisan Citizens Commission to draw congressional and state legislative districts, beginning in 2026. (See “Ohio Issue 1 2024: What is it? Would it stop gerrymandering?” Jesse Balmert, September 14, 2024 © 2024 www.dispatch.com. All rights reserved). The piece mirrors my March 18, 2024 post, “Let Us End Gerrymandering in the November 2024 Election.”
The Dispatch graphic presents an accurate picture of the initiative, unlike the the false and misleading summary that Ohio Secretary of State Frank La Rose is attempting to place on the ballot in order to dupe Ohioans into voting against the measure. (See “The Attempt to Place an Incorrect and Misleading Summary of Anti-Gerrymandering Initiative on Ohio Ballot,” September 11, 2024).
Update. To no one’s surprise, a 4 to 3 majority on the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that the misleading language in the summary of Issue 1, falsely portraying the initiative as supporting gerrymandering, may remain intact. Remember. You are voting on and hopefully for the Issue 1, portrayed in the Dispatch Graphic and in the article and posts referenced above, not on the summary. The summary is supposed to be an accurate reflection of a ballot initiative, it is not the initiative itself. Its sole purpose is to accurately inform voters about a more detailed proposal, not to deceive them.
The PDF file below is a reproduction of the Issue 1 graphic printed in the Columbus Dispatch on September 15, 2024. If you cannot download it, contact me and I will send you the file.
