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    • The voting language was written by opponents
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    The voting language was written by opponents

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    If you read the ballot language for Ohio Issue 1, it will look very different than the proposed amendment to change who controls redistricting.

    That’s because Republican opponents of the constitutional amendment approved the language on your ballot. Our state agency explains what happened.

    What’s No. 1 in Ohio?

    Ohio Issue 1 is a proposed constitutional amendment to change who draws congressional and state legislative maps. It would replace Ohio’s current system of state legislatures and a seven-member committee of elected officials who draw maps.

    Instead, a 15-member commission made up of five Republicans, five Democrats and five independents would draw the districts. Elected officials, candidates, lobbyists and campaign staffers could not serve on the committee.

    Issue 1 also creates new rules for drawing districts, such as a requirement that maps closely reflect how Ohioans voted in recent elections.

    Who wrote the voting language for Ohio Issue 1?

    A five-member panel called the Ohio Ballot Board writes ballot language for ballot measures such as constitutional amendments, initiated statutes and referendums. The board consists of two Republicans, two Democrats and the Ohio Secretary of State, currently Republican Frank LaRose.

    LaRose’s office wrote the ballot language for Ohio Issue 1. The three Republicans on the Ohio Ballot Board approved the language, while the two Democrats opposed it.

    The campaign for Issue 1, called Citizens Not Politicians, denounced the language, saying it was inaccurate and would mislead Ohio voters.

    They disagreed with ballot language, such as Issue 1 that would “create a new taxpayer-funded commission of appointees necessary to cross state legislative and congressional district boundaries,” when the actual proposal says that Issue 1 “would ban partisan gerrymandering.”

    But the Ohio Supreme Court largely sided with Republicans in Ohio’s ballot box. The decision was split, with four Republican justices supporting the ballot language and three Democratic justices opposing it.

    LaRose called the decision “a huge victory for Ohio voters, who deserve an honest explanation of what they are being asked to decide.”

    Why can Republicans write ballot language for Ohio Issue 1?

    Republicans can write ballot language because they have a majority in Ohio’s ballot box. The Ohio Supreme Court can review ballot language to ensure that it does not mislead, deceive, or defraud voters.

    In recent elections, critics say Republicans have used this power to write ballot language that favors or disfavors their position on the issue. For example, the ballot language for August 2023 Issue 1 was “raising the standard” to amend the state constitution rather than making it more difficult to enact constitutional amendments, for example.

    Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the Ohio Ballot Board in 1974. Ohio Democrats have proposed changes such as removing elected officials from the voting board and making it more bipartisan. But this proposed legislation has little chance of passing the Republican Party-controlled legislature.

    If Issue 1 passes, will the ballot language be in the Ohio Constitution?

    No. If Issue 1 passes, the ballot language would not be added to the Ohio Constitution. The text of the constitutional amendment, written by proponents of Issue 1, would be added to the state constitution.

    Will the language of the ballot affect the outcome of the vote on Issue 1?

    It’s hard to say. Ideastream and Bolts Magazine spoke to Ohio voters who planned to vote “yes” on Issue 1, but instead voted “no” after reading the ballot language.

    But Ohioans passed an abortion rights amendment last year, despite language that advocates said was deeply misleading.

    Jessie Balmert covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations in Ohio.

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