Voters across Ohio shot down Issue 1, the state's redistricting amendment, by a significant margin on Tuesday night in the 2024 General Election.
Overall, 80 of the state's 88 counties voted against the measure, with the eight voting for it being home to the most populous cities in the state like Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. According to projections from News 5's election partner, Decision Desk HQ, 2.4 million Ohioans voted for Issue 1, with 2.8 million voting against.
In Northeast Ohio, which is comprised of 17 counties in terms of our viewing area, only three counties— Lorain, Cuyahoga and Summit — voted to pass it. In Lorain, the margin was less than a thousand. Outside of those highly populated counties, it wasn't even close.
Here's the breakdown of the number of Yes/No votes in each Northeast Ohio county. L is where Issue 1 lost, and W is where it won.
L Ashland — Yes: 7,527 | No: 17,767
L Ashtabula — Yes: 14,857 | No: 24,102
L Carroll — Yes: 3,598 | No: 9,179
W Cuyahoga — Yes: 327,778 | No: 179,752
L Erie — Yes: 16,277 | No: 21,033
L Geauga — Yes: 20,736 | No: 31,807
L Holmes — Yes: 2,501 | No: 9,005
L Huron — Yes: 8,648 | 16,816
L Lake — Yes: 55,975 | 65,019
W Lorain — Yes: 75,254 | No: 74,315
L Medina — Yes: 43,975 | No: 57,607
L Portage — Yes: 35,058 | No: 42,539
L Stark — Yes: 73,047 | No: 99,072
W Summit — Yes: 139,138 | No: 116,458
L Richland — Yes: 16,706 | No: 35,606
L Tuscarawas — Yes: 13,229 | No: 26,514
L Wayne — Yes: 17,005 | No: 32,286
In total, Yes on Issue 1 received 12,432 more votes in Northeast Ohio than No. That means Northeast Ohio supported Issue 1 by a thin margin, as the measure lost by more than 400,000 votes statewide.
Issue 1 would have created a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission (OCRC), made up of Republican, Democratic and independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state. They would have been tasked with fairly drawing legislative and congressional maps.
Currently, Ohio lawmakers draw the maps — ones that directly impact them and their colleagues. This led to Ohio’s redistricting mess in 2022, when a bipartisan Ohio Supreme Court struck down seven different approved maps, saying that the GOP members of the commission were drawing lines to unfairly benefit their party – gerrymandering.
The supporters of Issue 1 complained that the ballot language was confusing on Issue 1 after the GOP-controlled ballot board changed the language to say it would “require” the commission to “gerrymander.
RELATED: What does a yes vote on Ohio Issue 1 mean? What does a no vote mean?
