Opinion

'OUR VIEW' EDITORIAL: Ohio must do away with gerrymandering and fix redistricting
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Ohio needs to come up with a better system for drawing up the legislative districts used in electing lawmakers.

Currently, the majority political party determines the boundaries, skewing the map to favor their candidates rather than to provide equal representation for all.

Republican State Sen. Jon Husted is proposing a constitutional amendment to completely change how Ohio now draws up its congressional and state House and Senate districts.

Currently, a five-member Apportionment Board draws legislative districts in Ohio, while the legislature maps congressional seats. Husted's proposal would leave it all up to a single, seven-member board, and any map would require the approval of at least two minority party members. Husted's measure passed the Republican-controlled Senate last week along a 21-12 party line vote. The measure now goes to the Democratic-controlled House for consideration.

Democrats voice concerns that Husted's plan doesn't go far enough. The fact that Husted is running for secretary of state in 2010 likely adds to Democratic suspicions.

But civic groups, including Ohio Citizen Action and the League of Women Voters of Ohio, support Husted's plan, with some reservations. This spring, the two groups teamed with others, including current Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, to sponsor a contest to encourage different ideas for redistricting. That contest relied on an objective scoring system with criteria including community preservation, competitiveness and fairness.

We encourage Democrats and Republicans to work together to come up with a redistricting process that would give voters competitive elections from which to choose their federal and state lawmakers.

The current system relies too much on partisan deal-making and gerrymandering schemes.

URL: http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/09/29/opinion/mj1679389.prt

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