Officials should have stood up for our ‘ignored’ voters
Invisible, ignored, irrelevant. That is what the majority members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission conveyed to the hundreds of Ohio citizens who testified in person or through written testimony about the drawing of the lines for state legislative districts.
The constant refrains were simple: 1) Work together to draw maps that do not unfairly advantage one party over another.
2) Be transparent in the process. 3) Follow the letter and intent of the voters who overwhelmingly passed the constitutional amendment and give us constitutional maps that uphold the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
4) As much as possible, keep communities together in ways that make sense.
Individual citizens, and those representing organizations, offered specific concerns as well as broad commentary on ways the maps and the process could be improved.
Dozens of maps were submitted to the Commission using the criteria in Article 11, Section 6 of the Ohio Constitution. Some even were offered with underlying data and rationale.
And yet, voters who supported the redistricting process by margins of more than 70% at the ballot box – rejecting the notion that we should have super-majorities representing us in our legislative bodies when we have voted for the past several decades at approximately 55-44% – were made to feel invisible, ignored, and irrelevant.
It was as if the legislative leaders had cooked the process from the beginning to maintain partisan control and had no intention of following the Constitution and would in fact twist logic worse than the district that earned the title “gerrymander” to suit their purposes.
This was apparent by the comments made by the three executive appointees – Gov. Mike Dewine, State Auditor Keith Faber and Secretary of State Frank Larose – who indicated they were voting for the map under some level of hesitation or duress.
Dewine said the map could be “more constitutional.”
Larose expressed frustration that he had been asking “for days” for Senate Republicans’ definitions/rationale of proportionality, and that it was handed to him after the motion to adopt the map at 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 15.
Faber praised the way the Senate Democratic caucus staff worked with him to share information and explain things when asked, because he did not have access from the other side.
He also said that he was relying in good faith on what the Republican caucus legal team told him regarding constitutionality because he had no further data to evaluate it himself.
While I am heartened that these three executive branch members were clearly indicating the flaws in the process, I am deeply disappointed that they still voted for the maps. I believe a vote is a choice, not an obligation.
If they believed the map, as drawn, was not the best decision for the state, they could have voted no and forced a different outcome.
It remains to be seen what will happen next, but what is clear now is that the citizens of Ohio – who worked so hard to get the initiatives on the ballot, gather signatures, educate voters, get them to the polls and get them to pass these constitutional amendments – should not have been made to feel as if they did not matter.
The lack of confidence that many have in our political and electoral system was intensified by what the Redistricting Commission did in this vote.
As an advocate, and as one who testified before the commission, I allowed myself to shed tears of hurt and anger. But today I have to take a deep breath and get ready to fight for fair congressional maps, praying that I will not walk away feeling invisible, ignored and irrelevant at the end of that process.
Deidra Reese is statewide program director for the Ohio Unity Coalition.