The Supreme Court of Ohio granted motions to dismiss two challenges to congressional maps on Thursday, upholding the use of maps that have previously been deemed unconstitutional.

Both motions were filed on Tuesday by petitioners contending that the maps were drawn with unfair partisan bias. The court granted one dismissal in Neiman v. LaRose, and another dismissal in League of Women Voters of Ohio v. LaRose. Both suits were filed shortly after the Ohio Redistricting Commission approved Republican-created congressional maps on March 2, 2022.

In their motion to dismiss, legal counsel for Neiman reasoned that “further proceedings” would be required to grant the relief the petitioners seek. Such proceedings will have to occur quickly or else Ohioans may be left without a finalized congressional map in the upcoming 2024 election. According to the motion, the petitioners believe that a dismissal “is the best result under the circumstances for the people of Ohio who deserve certainty about the congressional map that they will be voting under in this cycle, at the very least.” However, they also noted that under Article XIXof the Ohio Constitution, the map must be redrawn after the 2024 election.

Counsel for the League of Women Voters of Ohio expressed similar rationale in their motion to dismiss. It reads:

Litigation regarding redistricting plans is often a protracted process, and in this case has already required two rounds of decisions by this Court…Ohioans have borne the considerable costs and frustration of years of districting disputes, with each round of map-drawing and litigation generating additional confusion and concern about the fairness of their representation. After nearly two years of diligently pursuing this litigation, Petitioners have decided that it is not presently in the state’s best interests to continue pursuing relief in this manner.

One important reason the proceedings have moved slowly is that the US Supreme Court rejected the “independent legislature” theory in June through a ruling in Moore v. Harper. It effectively vacated a July 2022 decision from the Supreme Court of Ohio that found the map in question “unduly favor[ed] the Republican Party and disfavor[ed] the Democratic Party.”