The agenda of the current general assembly and Governor John Kasich is proving to be really, really unpopular. The Ohio Democratic Party announced today that it is launching an unprecedented third repeal referendum petition drive since May. Following the successful campaigns to place SB 5, which limits union collective bargaining, and HB 194, which creates dozens of new voting restrictions, on the ballot, fair-elections advocates will attempt to collect another 231,000 valid signatures before December 26 to repeal HB 319, the new congressional district map.
After holding hearings across the state and giving lip service to public input, Republican legislators produced a surprise map that they rushed to a vote in 48 hours, leaving no time for study and comment. They drew a map to give themselves an outsized 3-1 advantage despite the state’s nearly even partisan split.
Ohio Democratic Party chairman Chris Redfern said, “Every petition circulator will be given a copy of the map proposed by the Republicans in order to show that map to potential signers. We have no doubt that once Ohioans see for themselves just how ridiculous this map is, that they will not hesitate to help us stop the map from being adopted.”
