Commission faces Statehouse map deadline
Must pass map for state districts on Wednesday
COLUMBUS – The Ohio Redistricting Commission faces an end-of-day Wednesday deadline to pass a constitutional map for state House and Senate districts.
The vote will come after hours of testimony from hundreds of Ohioans, most of whom were frustrated with the lack of transparency and public input into the final product.
As of Tuesday afternoon, it wasn’t clear what the final maps would look like. The Gop-made map, which the commission has used as a working draft since Thursday, would allow Republicans to retain a veto-proof majority.
The commission’s two Democrats – House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes and Sen. Vernon Sykes, both of Akron – proposed a counteroffer Monday evening that would give Republicans a 57-42 advantage in the Ohio House and 20-13 advantage in the Ohio Senate.
“It’s better, but it still favors Republicans,” said David Niven, an associate professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati. “It’s a step in the right direction, but voters didn’t ask for a mildly less unfair map when they passed a new system.”
Ohio Auditor Keith Faber, a Republican, said that he preferred the Democratic proposal to the Gop-made map. He and Ohio Secretary of State Frank Larose, another Republican and former state senator, have collaborated to reach a 10-year map compromise. Both were working
from a disadvantage because they didn’t have access to mapmaking software.
“I think the plane can get landed. The question is time,” Faber said Tuesday.
Former Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper appealed to both Tuesday afternoon, saying partisan extremism threatens their goals. “Those are positions that we expect to rise above party,” he said.
To enact a 10-year map, four members of the commission, including both Democratic members, must approve the final version. Without Democratic support, four GOP members could pass a map that lasts for four years.
Even a bipartisan map could result in a lawsuit if voting rights advocates believe it falls short of the voter-approved changes in the Ohio Constitution. Fair Districts Ohio, which includes voting rights groups like Common Cause Ohio and the League of Women Voters of Ohio, has criticized the commission’s map for not looking like statewide election results and not considering racial and demographic data.
“We looked at red and blue and we forgot about Black and brown and that’s not OK,” said Rep. Thomas West, D-canton, and leader of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus.
Any legal challenge must be heard by the Ohio Supreme Court, which is composed of four Republican and three Democratic justices. Chief Justice Maureen O’connor, who is not eligible to run for reelection because of age limits, is seen as the swing vote.
Common Cause Ohio’s Mia Lewis told commission members that a fair map is more important than hitting the Wednesday deadline. She asked them to take another week if needed.
“This is too important a task to be rushed,” Lewis said.
Jessie Balmert is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Akron Beacon Journal, Cincinnati Enquirer, Columbus Dispatch and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.