Letter to the Editor
Let’s extend fair design of districts to Congress
Voters sent a clear message on Nov. 3 when they approved State Issue 1: They want fair legislative districts.
We agree. The League of Women Voters of Ohio and our allies have long been calling for an end to gerrymandering, in the form of fair rules and a transparent process for drawing districts.
Passing State Issue 1 only got us halfway there. It created a new, fair process for drawing Ohio General Assembly districts but did not include congressional districts. The League, Common Cause Ohio, Progress Ohio and other allies seized on landslide voter approval of Issue 1 to call for extending the same fair-districts process to Congress, whose districts are even more gerrymandered.
Some political leaders didn’t even wait 24 hours before coming out as publicly opposed to congressional-redistricting reform. Why would Ohio’s political leaders who endorsed Issue 1 and praised this new bipartisan redistricting plan for state legislative districts in the same breath voice opposition to applying the same fair rules to congressional redistricting?
This is what Issue 1 will do:
• Create a bipartisan process for drawing districts so that one party cannot rig districts in its favor.
• Require districts to reflect the voting history of each community, instead of being manipulated to artificially favor or disfavor a political party or a particular candidate.
• Ensure transparency, in the form of public hearings and a public process for drawing maps.
• Keep communities whole, so that we don’t have oddly shaped districts that stretch long distances across numerous counties whose residents might have little in common.
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said Ohioans voted against monopolies, both economic monopolies in States Issues 2 and 3 and political monopolies in Issue 1. Of all three, Issue 1 won by the widest margin, with 71.5 percent of voters saying no to politicians rigging legislative districts in their favor. Issue 1 passed by wide margins in all 88 counties.
Voters clearly expressed their support of fair districts. And the people of Ohio deserve nothing less than a fair and open redistricting process for all districts, including those for Congress.
CARRIE DAVIS
Executive director
League of Women Voters of Ohio
Columbus
