One-Digit Discrepancy Does Not Impact Substance of the Amendment, Which Will Be Refiled to Begin Signature Gathering Soon
The nonpartisan Citizens Not Politicians coalition working to end gerrymandering in Ohio sent a letter today to the Attorney General indicating that it found a one-digit typographical error in the Attorney-General approved summary language for the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment.
The full text of the amendment sets the date for a citizens redistricting commission to adopt new legislative maps by Sept. 19, 2025. However, approved summary language inadvertently stated the deadline would be Sept. 15. The coalition sent a letter to the Attorney General this morning notifying him of the oversight and advising him of the steps they will take to address it. The letter reads:
Although this difference is inconsequential and not one that would mislead potential signers to sign or not sign the petition, the standard adopted by the Ohio Supreme Court, the Committee has decided in the interest of total transparency with all Ohioans to recirculate and file with your office a new Summary petition that changes the “5” to a “9.” That will be the sole change to the Summary and there will be no changes to the Amendment text.
“This minor setback will slightly delay the start of signature gathering but changes nothing about the substance of the amendment, our resolve to end gerrymandering in Ohio, or our ability to get it done,” said Chris Davey, spokesperson for the nonpartisan coalition. “We will quickly correct the typo and keep moving forward because it’s critical that we end gerrymandering in Ohio by putting citizens – not politicians and their cronies – in charge of drawing legislative maps.”
The Citizens Not Politicians Amendment will:
- Create the 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of Republican, Democratic and independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state.
- Ban current or former politicians, political party officials, and lobbyists from sitting on the commission.
- Require fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician.
- Require the commission to operate under an open and independent process.
The amendment and updated summary can be found at www.citizensnotpoliticians.org/petition.
Citizens Not Politicians is a coalition of people and organizations seeking to end gerrymandering in Ohio by removing politicians from the redistricting process and instead empowering Ohio citizens to draw fair and impartial legislative and congressional districts through an open and independent process.