COLUMBUS — Lawmakers may actually be nearing a long elusive bipartisan compromise to change the highly partisan way Ohio redraws state legislative districts every 10 years.
But don’t look for a solution anytime soon on how legislators redraw congressional districts as the newly strengthened Republican majority in Washington has frowned on changing a system that has worked to its advantage.
The Ohio House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a proposed constitutional amendment to increase minority input into maps for 99 state House and 33 state Senate districts and improve the chances that races will be more competitive.
The Senate president has introduced his own plan in the upper chamber that is also in position for a potential vote this week, likely the last before lawmakers wrap up the two-year session and head for the Statehouse doors for the holidays.
Although the two proposals differ in some ways, lawmakers appear to be closer to agreement on reform after numerous false starts and ballot issues over several decades.
“I don’t think there should be any incentive for somebody to hold out,” Senate President Keith Faber (R., Celina) said. “Now’s the right time to do it. Nobody knows who the next secretary of state, auditor, and governor are going to be four years from now, before we go into the next redistricting cycle. ...
“I haven’t heard anybody that has suggested that any of the proposals aren’t better than what we have now.”
Redistricting typically takes place every 10 years to adjust for population trends soon after completion of the latest U.S. Census.
“This is in my view the most significant development that we’ve seen in Ohio on the subject of redistricting in years and, in particular, the most encouraging real sign that we’ve seen that redistricting reform might actually become a reality,” said Dan Tokaji, an Ohio State University constitutional law professor.
Critics contend the current system is abused by the political party in power at the time to redraw districts to its own advantage.
Republicans have controlled the pencil for the last few cycles and have packed as many Democrats into as few districts as possible. Democrats haven’t had the chance for a while, but they’ve been guilty of the same in the past.
According to an analysis of the Nov. 4 election results by the League of Women Voters of Ohio, 96 of the 99 House districts went to the party the district favored on paper, and four of 17 Senate seat winners and 14 House winners had no general election opposition.
Just four representatives — one Democrat and three conservative Republicans — voted against Joint Resolution 12, sponsored by Rep. Matt Huffman (R., Lima).
Depending on which chamber’s proposed constitutional amendment passes, voters would get the final say as early as the May primary election.
Under current law, a five-member apportionment board — the governor, secretary of state, auditor, and a lawmaker from each side of the aisle — approve maps for state House and Senate districts. In 2011, that resulted in a 4-1 Republican panel.
The General Assembly as a whole adopts maps of congressional districts as they would any other piece of legislation. Because Republicans control both chambers, that led to a map that helped to elect 12 Republicans and four Democrats, just as the district leanings on paper suggested.
The House proposal would add two more legislative members, one Republican and one Democrat, to the state apportionment board and require at least two votes from the minority party to approve a map.
If there’s an impasse, the majority can forge ahead with its own map, knowing that it could only be in effect for two election cycles, or four years, before the process would have to start again. Any map could be challenged before the Ohio Supreme Court, which could force changes or order an entirely new map.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.
First Published December 9, 2014, 5:00 a.m.
