The Ohio Republican Party and Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday their opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment that would change the Ohio Constitution with modern rules on apportioning voting districts.
Every 10 years after the U.S. Census, the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission is tasked with redistricting Ohio’s 99 House of Representatives and 33 Senate districts to reflect the most recent census results.
The commission was established by an amendment to the Ohio Constitution that was approved by 71 percent of Ohio voters in November 2015.
Proposed constitutional amendmentHowever, it would replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission by creating the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission. Supporters of the commission say it will ensure “an open and transparent process and fair outcomes that preserve the political power inherent in the people.”
According to a 33-page proposal filed with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office last year, the constitutional amendment “would replace the current redistricting process run by politicians with a citizen-led commission charged with creating fair legislative and congressional districts through a more open and independent system.”
The modern commission would be made up of 15 members — five Democrats, five Republicans and five independents — and would not allow current or former elected officials to serve on it.
The proposition will go before Ohio voters on the November 5 popular vote as Issue 1.
If the redistricting amendment were to pass on the November ballot, Ohio would end a system that requires mapmakers to create gerrymandered districts. Ohio would have extreme gerrymandering. We must defeat this flawed ballot initiative because… photo:twitter.com/FEo3GawjcZ
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 31, 2024
DeWine during a press conference on Wednesday morning he expressed his robust opposition to the proposal.
“There will be an amendment on the fall ballot that will change the Ohio Constitution in a way that advocates say will end gerrymandering in Ohio. That is not happening,” DeWine said.
“If this ballot measure were to pass, Ohio would effectively end the system that mandates and forces mapmakers to create gerrymandered districts. In fact, Ohio would have extreme gerrymandering,” DeWine added.
DeWine, who has said Ohio needs to “end gerrymandering,” said the state needs to “completely remove politics from drawing maps.”
The governor continued suggest for Ohio to adopt a redistricting plan similar to the one Iowa adopted years ago, which prohibits mapmakers from using past voting data when redrawing electoral districts and prevents the splitting of political units.
“Ohio needs to have a constitutional provision that instructs mapmakers that they cannot take into account data from past votes that the mapmakers know will lead to a predetermined partisan outcome. Maps should be drawn based on population, without regard to past partisan voting patterns,” DeWine said.
“Issue 1 rests on a flawed concept of proportionality and would seek to entrench gerrymandering in the Ohio Constitution, undermining representative democracy by allowing a compact group of unaccountable commissioners to predetermine political control of Congress and…
— Jon Husted (@JonHusted) July 31, 2024
Lt. Gov. Jon Husted agreed with DeWine, arguing that the proposed constitutional amendment “rests on a flawed concept of proportionality and would entrench gerrymandering in the Ohio Constitution, undermining representative democracy by allowing a small group of unaccountable commissioners to decide in advance political control of congressional and legislative districts without competitive elections.”
“The idea of proportionality sounds fair in the same way that socialism sounds fair — it completely ignores merit and prevents competition in favor of predetermined outcomes,” Husted said. added.
Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou also announced the party’s opposition to the proposal, calling it a “shameful attempt” that “misleads voters by suggesting that Issue 1 eliminates gerrymandering, when in fact this amendment will ensure that political and racial gerrymandering will occur.”
“This bait-and-switch scheme will elect individuals who are not accountable to voters to draw maps with a specific outcome in mind. This is a terrible amendment that will disenfranchise African-American voters, just like the failed Michigan commission that is the model for the Ohio amendment,” Triantafilou said.
“I encourage every Ohioan to take a hard look at this bad amendment and reject the Democrats’ plan to strip ordinary Ohioans of their important role in choosing how their districts are drawn,” Triantafilou added.
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Kaitlin Houser he is a reporter in Ohio Star AND Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo by “Mike DeWine” Hello, Mike DeWine.
