Yesterday the Ohio Supreme Court, in a 6-1 ruling, overturned ballot language for an inititive petition to change the way Ohio does redistricting of its legislature and congressional seats.
The court said:
(snip) “The cumulative effect of these defects in the ballot language is fatal to the validity of the ballot because it fails to properly identify the substance of the amendment, which misleads voters,” the majority wrote.
Source - Columbus Dispatch
So, Jon Husted once again shows his hyper-partisan side, and approves ballot language intended to extend Radical Republican advantages until the end of time in Ohio. The Supreme Court, 6-1 Republican ruled that he is not free to misrepresent the intent of hundreds of thousands of citizens, including myself, who signed the petitions to get this measure on the ballot.
Supporters of the initiative, the Voters First which includes the League of Women Voters, unions and others, made the following statement:
(snip) Matt Cain, spokesman for Voters First, said the court “pointed out exactly what we’ve been saying — that Jon Husted and the Ballot Board wrote manipulative language to change the outcome of an election.” He said Voters First will submit its proposed language when the board meets again to redraft the language.
Jon Husted's voter suppression tactics now include misrepresenting ballot measures intended to make legislative redistricting less an action of having politicians select voters, than an action of having voters select politicians.
Your comments are appreciated.
Update: Rec List. My second visit there, thanks to all.
Update 2: Other media outlets are picking up this story:
Columbus, IN, AP story
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Update 3: H/T to Just Bob for finding it and Odysseus for suggesting it; explicit language rejected by the court, and the original language suggested by the group Voters First (in the Supreme Court ruling):
Article - Plain Dealer - Ohio Supreme Court ruling
Update 4: Corrected misspelling of Jon Husted's first name in the headline (from John)