A Youngstown pastor and community activist are taking legal issue with how Ohio's new congressional map is drawn.

Rev. Kenneth Simon of New Bethel Baptist Church and community activist Helen Youngblood have filed a lawsuit against Governor Mike DeWine, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and the Ohio Redistricting Commission, among others.

The lawsuit filed in federal court claims those who voted in support of the Ohio’s Congressional and State senate plan did not consider how the new map would impact Black voters in Mahoning County.

According to the suit, "The gravamen of this Complaint is the wholesale disregard by the Defendants of their duty in connection with drawing legislative districts to consider whether the boundaries adopted deprive Black voters of an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representation of choice. "

The suit points to The Voting Rights Act and says, "Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act for the broad remedial purpose of ridding the country of racial discrimination in voting." 

The suit alleges that by combining Mahoning County with several counties to the south, that traditionally vote Republican, the vote of the Black community will be diluted.

The lawsuit says, "The new district will result in illegal and unconstitutional dilution of the Black vote by impairing the ability of the Black community to elect a United States Congressional representative of choice, due to the submersion of Black voting power into the counties of Columbiana, Caroll, Jefferson, Harrison, Belmont and Washington instead of the more racially diverse adjacent Stark, Summit or Cuyahoga Counties."

This is not the only constitutional challenge the new maps are facing. 

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21 News reached out to the Governor DeWine for a comment. A spokesperson said, "Beyond the Governor's November 20th statement when he signed the bill, we decline comment on the ongoing litigation."

The full lawsuit can be read, here.