Fact checking both sides of Issue 1 redistricting initiative

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- With less than six weeks until Election Day, campaign ads are ramping up and it’s not just for candidates. Chances are, you’ve seen new ads about Issue 1 this week. 

NBC4 Investigates is fact-checking those ads.  

Issue 1 is about redistricting and who should have the power to draw district lines: citizens or politicians? A yes vote for Issue 1 means a vote for a 15-person, citizen-led redistricting commission. A no vote keeps the redistricting commission as it is, with seven elected officials.  

The 30-second vote no ad, paid for by Ohio Works, started airing Thursday, Sept. 26 on NBC4. It appeals to voters by pulling on the federal election. 

Watch: The truth behind Issue 1 political ads

"It's tying into those Trump voters that we know are going to come out this November to vote for President Trump, and it's just trying to make sure they understand what exactly Issue 1 is all about," Republican strategist Bob Clegg said. 

"They know that there are Republicans that are not happy and so they're trying to bring in this partisanship into it," Democratic strategist Brian Rothenberg said. 

The ad points to past elections and Ohio voters' support for previous redistricting legislation. The ad states, "Democrats want to undo the redistricting safeguards that were supported by over 70% of Ohioans.” 

This refers to two pieces of legislation. In 2015, 71% of voters supported a seven-member redistricting commission with requirements for minority party support. A vote in 2018 changed the vote requirement to pass the maps; that change passed by almost 75%. 

"We did vote on this and we put in place a system, but that system, the (Ohio) Supreme Court, seven times said, ‘You've done this unconstitutionally,’" Rothenberg said.  

"We already, as the electorate here in Ohio, have approved reforms to our redistricting reapportionment process,” Clegg said. “We just approved them not even 10 years ago, it was nine years ago. So why are we already trying to change it again?"  

Now to the vote yes ad: it’s paid for by Citizens not Politicians, the group behind the ballot initiative. 

"What they're trying to do is make it look like they're, you know, the people are, there's a groundswell of demand for this reform to take place when there really isn't," Clegg said.  

"The yes side is using rank and file people to just show that this is about people controlling the process over politicians controlling the process," Rothenberg said. 

This ad makes the claim the process is rigged, saying, "Ohio's voting districts were so badly rigged, they've been deemed unconstitutional seven times." 

In 2022 the Ohio Supreme Court struck down proposed congressional and state legislative maps seven times combined. 

"You’re going to hear the yes side say, ‘Yeah, because politicians were involved, it didn't work. Because any time politicians have an ability to hold that crayon and draw their own districts, they're going to do it,’" Rothenberg said. 

"They were ruled unconstitutional, but through our current system, we were able to produce a plan that was ruled as being constitutional," Clegg said. 

NBC4 reached out to both groups who created these ads. Citizens not Politicians are behind the vote yes ad, and they spoke with NBC4 Thursday afternoon. They say the ballot question is an effort to end gerrymandering in all forms. We have not heard back from Ohio Works, the group behind the vote no ad.