On Wednesday this week, the Ohio Supreme Court once again, in a 4-3 opinion, invalidated proposed state legislative district lines established by the Ohio Redistricting Commission. This marks the third set of state legislative maps that have been invalidated by the Court. A map establishing new boundaries for congressional districts is also under review by the Court, having been previously invalidated once before.
 
The action taken by the court almost guarantees primary races for Ohio House and Senate seats cannot be held on May 3^rd. In a Thursday letter to state lawmakers, Secretary of State Frank LaRose told lawmakers, “I regret to inform you that as a result of last night's decision by the Ohio Supreme Court, and barring the immediate action of a federal court, our 88 county boards of elections can no longer include contests for the state House and state Senate in the May 3, 2022 primary election.”
 
Election preparation work continues for the May 3^rd primary for statewide, local and congressional contests.
 
The General Assembly will likely determine the next steps for Ohio’s primary election process. There are two potential scenarios lawmakers may consider. One option is to move the entire primary to a later date, potentially in June or July. The second option would be to split the primary contest, with statewide, local and congressional contests taking place on May 3^rd while state legislative races would be decided later in the summer. The secondary primary would entail costs between $20 and $25 million.
 
CCAO has followed the primary election debate closely. CCAO’s foremost request to lawmakers is that should the General Assembly decide to split the primary election, full costs of the second primary election must be paid by the state. Counties already spend a significant amount on election administration costs; a second primary election would be paid for by counties unless funded by the state.

In other election news, Secretary LaRose on Friday informed state lawmakers on Friday that the federal government approved Ohio’s plan for delayed military and overseas ballots to be mailed while expediting delivery and allowing additional time to return ballots. The General Assembly provided this additional flexibility as part of Senate Bill 11, signed into law last week. The military and overseas deadline, originally March 18, would have caused significant challenges for many county boards of elections due to map delays.
 
CCAO will continue to monitor updates regarding Ohio’s primary election. Any questions can be directed to CCAO policy analyst Adam Schwiebert.

On Friday, the Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announced grants awards of more than $232 million to expand broadband service to nearly 100,000 Ohio households.
 
The grant program was established as part of House Bill 2 in 2021 and was primarily funded by the state operating budget. The competitive grant process allowed broadband providers to apply for grants to help fund broadband expansion efforts for areas that are currently unserved or underserved.
 
The grants were awarded to 11 different internet service providers associated with 33 different broadband expansion projects impacting 31 counties. As part of the process, several broadband providers committed to independently fund 71 other broadband expansion projects serving an additional 52,000 households. In total, as many as 230,000 Ohioans will have improved broadband availability in the coming two years.
 
Speaking at the awards announcement, Governor DeWine stated, “High-speed internet is no longer a luxury – it’s a critical necessity for everything from school to work to healthcare. We must end the digital divide in our state, and by giving our rural and unserved areas access to affordable and reliable high-speed internet, we will enhance economic growth in these communities and bring about new opportunities for residents.”
 
CCAO supported the creation of Ohio’s Broadband Expansion Grant Program and supports funding of this important program. Expanding broadband internet service is one of CCAO’s key legislative priority items for the 134^th General Assembly, and CCAO looks forward to these projects moving forward in the coming months.
 
The list of project awards can be accessed here.