COLUMBUS — Issue 1 on the Nov. 5 ballot would remove “politicians” from the process of drawing congressional and state legislative lines and put the computer mouse instead in the hands of Ohio “citizens.”
But who would pick those citizen commissioners, ensuring that politics don’t again creep into what has been an inherently political process in Ohio?
The proposed Citizens Not Politicians constitutional amendment is more than 16 pages long, not counting current language that would be replaced. The full text does not appear on the ballot.
“There is no self-interest involved ...,” former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor said last week at a forum before the Columbus Metropolitan Club. She voted seven times to strike down maps drawn by fellow Republicans as unconstitutionally partisan during the latest cycle and then, after leaving the court, helped to write the language of Issue 1.
“We want people who vote, who are good citizens, who have initiative and the desire to serve Ohio, and to serve it so that we can have fair districts where there is representation that is fair representation,” she said. “And it is to get rid of partisan gerrymandering.”
The proposed amendment spells out at length who may not serve on the commission, how the new commissioners would be selected, and how those doing the selecting would themselves be selected.
“Politician” would be defined as including current elected or appointed public officials, former officials or candidates, their immediate family members, lobbyists, political consultants and contractors, and staffers.
The process would look back at the last six years for potential conflicts, and commissioners selected to draw the next set of maps would be barred from holding elected or appointed office for the following six years.
“Yes, you eliminate from being ‘citizens’ people who are in the direct political scene as a partisan or a PAC, but what you don't include are other people who are involved in political activities like the people who are providing most of the $26 million to put this on the ballot,” state Auditor Keith Faber said at the CMC forum.
The Republican served on the last Ohio Redistricting Commission whose maps were struck down by 4-3 bipartisan votes of the high court.
“The people who sued on the maps get to participate,” Mr. Faber said. “The people who defended the maps last time don’t. There are so many holes that are not accidental.”
Here’s how the process would play out:
● The four legislatively appointed members — two Republicans and two Democrats — of the five-member Ohio Ballot Board would review applications from retired judges to serve on a commissioner screening panel.
● The two ballot board members from each party would submit a list of eight recommendations to those on the other side.
● Each partisan contingent would then pick two from those lists to make up a panel of four retired judges.
● The screening panel of retired judges would launch a commissioner application process that must be “impartial, transparent, and fair from a geographically and demographically representative cross-section of Ohio.”
● A “professional search firm” would be hired from a list of three submitted by the state Department of Administrative Services to solicit commissioner applications.
● Applicants would be screened for conflicts of interest, party affiliation, relevant experience and skills, community ties, and “commitment to impartiality, compromise, and fairness.”
● A majority vote of the screening panel would select and take public comment on 90 applicants, evenly divided between Republicans, Democrats, and independents.
● The panel shall then reduce the list to 45, again evenly divided.
● Two from each group would then be randomly selected at a public meeting to serve as the first six commissioners.
● Those six would review the remaining applications and, at a public meeting, pick three from each category to fill out the remaining nine members, reflecting the geographic and demographic diversity of Ohio.
● Commissioners can only be removed for neglect of duty, bad behavior, or other cause by a vote of their fellow commissioners following public comment and hearing.
Voters in 2015 and 2018 approved new constitutional amendments that have a seven-member commission made up entirely of elected officials drawing state legislative maps and the General Assembly as a whole passing new congressional maps like any other bill. The General Assembly punted its role to the commission in the most recent cycle.
Republicans have controlled the process for the last several cycles and currently enjoy super-majorities in the state House, state Senate, and congressional delegation.
Final maps approved by the proposed Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission must comply with federal rules and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and consist of districts that are made up of geographically contiguous territory, have equalized populations, and preserve communities of interest “to the extent practicable.”
It then requires final overall maps — not individual districts — to “correspond closely” with how Ohioans have voted statewide in recent elections.
First Published October 21, 2024, 2:50 p.m.
