The Columbus Dispatch

DISTRICTS

- Dispatch reporter Jim Siegel contribute­d to this story. Bennett Leckrone is a fellow at the E.W. Scripps Statehouse News Bureau bleckrone@dispatch.com @leckronebe­nnett

“All too often the lines are drawn to split minority communitie­s apart,” Roberts said.Senate GOP press secretary John Fortney said the charge that Huffman’s plan would “institutio­nalize” gerrymande­ring is hypocritic­al.“The allegation of ’institutio­nalizing’ gerrymande­ring would be exactly what the Fair Districts plan does,” Fortney said. “They say they want to draw a map based on party percentage­s based on the last election. This is the epitome of gerrymande­ring in its purest form.”

Ann Henkener, representi­ng the League of Women Voters of Ohio, said the Senate redistrict­ing plan would perpetuate partisan gerrymande­ring and allow the process of partisan redistrict­ing to continue indefinite­ly.

“So long as they can continue to break up large counties ... there will really be no limits,” Henkener said. She also said Huffman’s plan, which doesn’t allow for a referendum to challenge the redrawn congressio­nal maps via a statewide votes, takes away the voice of voters.

“Voters would be better served by real reform,” Henkener said. Her group is a key member of the Fair Elections coalition.

Fortney pointed out that the coalition’s plan does not include an option for referendum either.

“We’re not going to give up simply because they put a proposal forward.”

— Sam Greshman, representi­ng Common Cause-Ohio

Roberts said the NAACP opposes the Senate plan, but added that members of the Congressio­nal Black Caucus don’t want to see African American representa­tives lose seats.

“I have to make sure that whatever happens doesn’t hurt the current members of the Congressio­nal Black Caucus,” Roberts said. He said the Senate plan could be harmful, but hasn’t seen the Fair Districts proposal yet.

Huffman’s plan prohibits the splitting of counties more than once, except for Ohio’s 10 most populous counties. It also requires districts to be equal in population to within one person, would require a full district to be drawn inside the city of Columbus, and prohibits the splitting of cities with population­s of over 100,000 if they are located in a county that is larger than a congressio­nal district (Cleveland, Cincinnati).

The Fair Elections coalition says this plan could lead to gerrymande­red districts due to its allowance of splits in larger counties. Their plan does not exclude Ohio’s 10 largest counties, and also requires representa­tional fairness, so districts generally correspond to voting preference­s of Ohio statewide votes during the past 10 years.

Members of the Fair

Elections coalition say that Huffman’s plan, despite requiring a bipartisan vote to approve a new map for 10 years, would still allow Republican­s to draw a map controllin­g 12 of 15 districts, the total anticipate­d after the 2020 census.

Congressio­nal redistrict­ing has drawn widespread interest throughout the state. On Monday, Republican Mayor Lydia Mihalik of Findlay and Democratic Mayor Andrew Ginther of Columbus released a joint statement asking lawmakers to pursue a bipartisan solution.

“The recent shutdown in Washington is a blunt reminder of the urgent need for congressio­nal redistrict­ing reform,” the statement reads. “While finding a bipartisan solution will not be easy, we urge both Republican and Democratic lawmakers to continue working towards a meaningful, bipartisan compromise that will bring both sides closer together and result in a ballot measure that can be broadly supported.”

Senate President Larry Obhof previously called criticism of Huffman’s plan “meritless,” and added that he hopes to pass the legislatio­n by February 7 so that it could be put on the May ballot.

Members of the Fair Elections Commission plan to put their legislatio­n on the November ballot by gathering about 306,000 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters. Using strictly volunteers, they say they currently have around 200,000.

Sam Greshman, representi­ng Common Cause-Ohio, a nonprofit grassroots organizati­on, said the organizati­on would put their redistrict­ing plan on the November ballot even if the Senate plan passes in May.

“We’re not going to give up simply because they put a proposal forward,” Gresham said.

Huffman’s plan gets another committee hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Ohio isn’t the only state with a redistrict­ing controvers­y. On Monday, the Pennsylvan­ia Supreme Court struck down the state’s newly-drawn congressio­nal map, saying it “clearly, plainly and palpably” violated the state’s constituti­on, according to an Associated Press report.

The Democratic-controlled court gave the state’s Republican-controlled legislatur­e a deadline of February 9 to approve a new congressio­nal map, and gave Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, until February 15 to submit it to the court. The court said it would adopt a plan for the state’s May primary if the legislatur­e didn’t act by then.

Republican lawmakers in the state were angered by the decision, saying it lacks clarity.

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