The following statement from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is pursuant to some members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission calling for another statewide tour instead of working to reach agreement on a 10-year congressional map:

"In August, the Ohio Redistricting Commission listened to more than thirty hours of testimony from Ohio citizens who gave their general perspectives about what they wanted to see in both the General Assembly and congressional district plans following the overwhelming passage of constitutional amendments in 2015 and 2018 to reform the processes.

"Unless and until the co-chairs call a meeting of the Commission to review maps and begin the hard work of negotiating, another road show would once again put the cart before the horse. Public input is the most valuable when we have something substantive for the public to consider. That only happens after coming together as a commission, developing and reviewing maps that meet the requirements of the constitution, and finding compromise.

"After the upcoming holiday weekend, there are just 20 days left for Commissioners to come to an agreement on a bipartisan, ten-year congressional map. The Commission should set a goal of developing maps that can provide the public an honest opportunity to provide substantive input. A big lesson learned from our last experience is that we need every minute we can get to sit down together to consider proposed maps and negotiate in the hope of reaching a bipartisan consensus. This is particularly true as now the Commissioners must also take valuable time away from the task of working on a congressional map to answer questions from the 35 high-priced lawyers from California, New York, and Washington, D.C. who have sued the Commission.

"To try and get a ten-year General Assembly map, I literally worked with some commission members up to the eleventh hour in an effort to find a bipartisan compromise. Unfortunately, the clock ran out. That doesn’t have to happen again. Let’s get to work.

"I now reiterate the request made to the Commission co-chairs on October 4th to call a meeting so we may move forward in an effort to reach a bipartisan compromise on a 10-year congressional map."

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