The two chairmen of the campaign to overhaul Ohio’s method for drawing statehouse districts said Tuesday the question has no organized opposition, making them cautiously optimistic about passage.

Former state Reps. Matt Huffman (R., Lima) and Vernon Sykes (D., Akron) teamed up last year to pass the proposal known as Issue 1 with bipartisan backing in the legislature. After years of partisan battling over the outlines of statehouse districts, the reform question has the potential to lead to bipartisan districts.

“The poll results are promising,” Mr. Sykes told The Blade’s editorial board in a meeting Tuesday. He said successive polls showed the question getting 47 percent and then 52 percent support. “It’s moving in a positive direction.”

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Tuesday assigned a title to Issue 1: “Creates a bipartisan, public process for drawing legislative districts.”

“We thought it sort of essential that the word bipartisan be part of it. The reason other [proposed reapportionment amendments] failed is they’re difficult to understand, but one side was saying it’s a bad idea,” Mr. Huffman said.

Mr. Huffman said the lack of public opposition could lead to overconfidence. Also unknown is what effect the turnout for Issues 2 and 3 relating to a prohibition on monopoly control of marijuana growing and legalizing the personal and medical use of marijuana will have on the total vote. The committee to pass Issue 1 has a budget of $750,000, though the money has not been raised yet.

The amendment creates a seven-member bipartisan panel, the “Ohio Redistricting Commission.” It must have at least two members from the minority party and two co-chairs from opposite parties.

Now, state legislative districts are drawn by the Ohio Apportionment Board, made up of the governor, secretary of state, auditor, one Republican lawmaker, and one Democratic lawmaker. A simple majority vote approves a map for the next 10 years.

The proposed plan leaves elected officials in charge of drawing maps for the 99 Ohio House of Representatives districts, rather than shift the job to an independent panel, as some government groups have preferred.

However, it has a built-in incentive to the majority party to win over minority support, the sponsors said. If new statehouse districts are enacted without at least two minority votes, lines must be redrawn after four years.

The commission is also required to create House districts that avoid splitting municipalities whenever possible.

“We will produce a lot more competitive districts,” Mr. Sykes said. “Under the new provisions, neither party will be able to gerrymander as well as they have in the past.”

It would take effect upon the next census, or the election of 2022. The plan does not change the way U.S. House of Representative districts are drawn.

Both Mr. Huffman and Mr. Sykes left the General Assembly at the end of 2014 because of term limits.

Contact Tom Troy: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058 or on Twitter @TomFTroy.

First Published August 26, 2015, 4:00 a.m.