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November 4, 2022

Mapmaker, Mapmaker, Make Me a Map

Not long ago, Republicans in Ohio passed a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering in the state. And then a funny thing happened. The same Ohio Republicans drew electoral maps that violated their own constitutional amendment. They’ll be using them in this week’s midterm elections. We try to understand how that could happen.

Illustration of figures moving around pieces of a puzzle in the shape of the state of Ohio.

Jeff Hinchee

Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.

Prologue

Prologue

Ira Glass brings us back to the moment of celebration when the anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment was passed in Ohio. And then walks us through how the subsequent maps were struck down over and over by the Ohio State Supreme Court for gerrymandering. (6 minutes)

Act One

They made each other a pledge. Unheard of. Absurd.

Anti-gerrymandering activists in Ohio worked for decades to pass a constitutional amendment to curb gerrymandering. Then Republican lawmaker Matt Huffman came along and finally made it happen. (12 minutes)

Act Two

Sunrise Sunset

In 2021, Ohio got a chance to take its new constitutional amendments out for a spin for the first time, and draw non-gerrymandered maps. Ira Glass tells the story of what went wrong, including an eleventh-hour Hail Mary vote. (38 minutes)