Ohio GOP misses disputed deadline for new US House map
Associated PressCOLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s latest court-imposed deadline for redrawing U.S. House district boundaries came and went Thursday without a new congressional map. Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp, an influential Republican and former justice, rejected any need for lawmakers to meet a timeline set by the state’s Supreme Court as based on a “myth.” Cupp said people are overlooking alternative legal options when they simply count up the 30 days that justices gave the Republican-controlled Legislature when it rejected the latest U.S. House map on July 17. Cupp’s memo did not address whether he believed lawmakers had the option to pursue a U.S. Supreme Court appeal back when the first congressional map was rejected in January. Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, disagreed with Cupp’s interpretation of an anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment approved in 2018 — which she said gave the Ohio Supreme Court the power to strike down maps manipulated for partisan advantage.