Signatures fi led for reform ballot issue
A trio of nonprofits filed an initial batch of 1,000 signatures Monday to kick-off an effort to place congressional redistricting reform on the November 2017 or 2018 ballot.
The proposed ballot issue would closely follow a legislative redistricting proposal that voters overwhelmingly supported in 2015. The goal is to dampen the political gerrymandering that allows the political party in control to draw districts to its benefit, creating few competitive seats and ensuring the party’s majority status.
“This is a critical effort to ensure fair districts and fair elections for every congressional seat in Ohio,” said Carrie Davis, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. “When members of Congress have safe seats drawn to guarantee which party wins, the real losers are the voters.”
Republicans have held 12 of Ohio’s 16 congressional seats since they drew the district lines in 2011. The lines will be drawn again in 2021, after the next census.
As part of the Fair Districts Ohio coalition, Common Cause Ohio and the Ohio Environmental Council joined the League in filing the signatures. Within 10 days, Attorney General Mike DeWine must determine if the summary language is fair and truthful. If it checks out, it goes to the Ohio Ballot Board, which will decide if it is a single issue, and then the group can begin collecting the more than 300,000 valid signatures of Ohio registered voters that are required.
When lawmakers approved placing legislative redistricting reform on the ballot in 2015, they specifically declined to change the process for congressional districts, which are drawn by the legislature in a bill signed by the governor.
House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger, R-Clarksville, has said he is working on a congressional redistricting plan, and a bill was introduced in the Senate that would require a two-thirds vote from each legislative chamber to approve a new map. The Senate proposal, like one last session, has seen little action. Gov. John Kasich proposed including a redistricting proposal in the state budget but relented when legislative leaders ask to consider the issue separately.
“We’ve been very patient waiting for them to act,” said Catherine Turcer of Common Cause. “Fair districts are so important to fair elections.”
With safe seats, it’s difficult to hold congressional lawmakers accountable, she said.
Instead of being drawn by the legislature, the proposal would hand the mapmaking job over to the same Redistricting Commission that will draw legislative districts in 2021. The sevenmember panel includes four lawmakers and three statewide officeholders, and an approved map must include two minority party votes.
Maps would be drawn under a new set of rules, including geographic compactness, and not drawn to favor either political party.
Voters in 2005 and 2012 rejected citizen ballot initiatives that attempted to reform the redistricting process. In both instances, Republicans opposed the proposals.
Supporters this time hope that because the plan so closely mirrors the one passed in 2015 with bipartisan support, opposition would be diminished. However, GOP legislative leaders have said they do not want to give up legislative control of the process.