A Section 2 lawsuit was filed today over Ohio’s congressional and state legislative maps. The suit alleges the same “race-blind” approach that Republicans have taken in states like North Carolina and Texas — a strategy that can easily result in Section 2 violations if not enough minority opportunity districts are created.

Youngblood and Simon further their argument that the most recent redistricting effort was done without regard for minority communities using quotes from a public hearing in September in which GOP mapmaker Ray DiRossi told the Ohio Redistricting Commission that “legislative leaders” directed him not to look at racial data in forming the Ohio House and Senate districts.

“This testimony is clear evidence that the legislative leadership in Ohio, intentionally disregarded whether the proposed districts diluted Black voting strength or the existence among other things, of racial block voting or any of the other Senate Report factors,” Simon and Youngblood state in the lawsuit.

Senate President Matt Huffman and state Sen. Rob McColley confirmed and defended their choice not to include racial data in the congressional redistricting map, saying federal law precluded them from using the data without specific evidence of discrimination.