Bipartisan Group Pushes to Take Politicians Out of Ohio Redistricting Process
A new proposal submitted this week puts forward the creation of a 15-member independent commission in charge of drawing legislative district lines.
Redistricting is supposed to happen once every decade for Congress and State Legislature maps. Voters approved multiple reforms last decade that were designed to make this decade’s redistricting efforts fair and eliminate gerrymandering, however, this has not worked.
The maps adopted by Republicans on the Ohio Redistricting Commission were repeatedly struck down by the state’s Supreme Court and ruled as unconstitutional gerrymanders. That panel consists of five Republicans and two Democrats.
The proposed initiative unveiled this week would take that panel, and politicians, out of the process while creating an independent 15-member commission. The proposal is similar to what Michigan currently has.
“These folks are drunk on power. Well, what do you do with drunks? You take away their keys and so that means we need to take the map-making away from them and follow what other states have done,” Catherine Tucker, the executive director of Common Cause Ohio said.
The 15-member commission would be comprised of five people affiliated with the political party whose candidate for governor received the highest number of votes. As well as five people affiliated with the political party whose candidate received the second most votes. The other five members will be not affiliated with either of those political parties.