Redrawing the maps
Success of redistricting reform depends on willingness of parties
Friday November 6, 2015 6:12 AM
The passage of State Issue 1 Tuesday by a wide margin is a victory for all Ohioans, finally creating an opportunity for fairer districts for the Statehouse to replace the highly partisan winner-take-all approach. Now, it will be up to Ohio’s elected representatives to fulfill the will of the voters and work together for the common good.
The issue’s effect won’t be seen for several more years, since the next 10-year redistricting process doesn’t come around until 2021. But the makeup of the apportionment board and the transparency under which it works will significantly change. The board will include two legislators from each party in addition to the governor, Ohio secretary of state and Ohio auditor. The board will be required to hold at least three public meetings that will be webcast. Currently, much of the work can be done behind closed doors. Public comment will be allowed on the proposed map, and the board must issue an explanation for its map and any reasons for splitting counties or townships.
Two votes from the minority party will be needed to approve a map for a full 10-year period; the hope is that this will encourage Republicans and Democrats to work together and reduce the districts that critics say have been unfairly gerrymandered to favor Republicans in the past two cycles.
Without the support of two minority members, the process will have to be repeated just four years later. It would be counterproductive if Ohio’s redistricting process simply shifted from an every-10-years process to an every-four-years one because the parties can’t agree or the minority party thinks it will be in control four years down the road. That is an unfortunate possibility given the events leading up to the election.
Issue 1 had the backing of both state Republicans and Democrats, along with a number of groups, including the League of Women Voters, the AFL-CIO, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio State Bar Association. But there was plenty of political jockeying that hampered the campaign’s efforts to raise money and get the word out to voters.
Despite the early support of groups normally allied with Democrats, the state Democratic Party waited until September to endorse the ballot issue. The party’s executive committee waited to run computer models to see how the party might fare under the new system, only signing on after party leaders didn’t see any sure way of coming out better without the changes Issue 1 institutes.
Meanwhile, several liberal-leaning groups took initiative on their own to launch a grassroots campaign in favor of Issue 1 after the official campaign’s Democratic lobbying firm stepped down. Thankfully, Ohioans got the message despite this less-than-unified effort.
Tuesday’s message at the ballot box should be heeded broadly by legislative leaders: Ohioans want fairer districts and bipartisan cooperation from lawmakers. That goes for U.S. congressional districts, too, something Ohio House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, should recognize. The day after the election, Rosenberger indicated he was in no rush to reform congressional redistricting; he said he’d like to see how the process put in place by Issue 1 is going to work.
Seeing as how that process won’t start until 2021, that long a wait is not in the best interests of Ohio residents.
