Editorial: Yes on Issue 1 to end politics as usual

Ohio voters fed up with politics as usual might be tempted to stay home Nov. 3.

That would be unfortunate, because this election offers a rare chance to change politics as usual – and without casting a single vote for a candidate. Ohioans simply need to vote for Issue 1.

Issue 1, placed on the ballot by the General Assembly with strong bipartisan support, would curb gerrymandering. It would create a new process for drawing legislative district lines that would improve the odds of general-election voters having a true choice and of our state lawmakers more accurately reflecting, well, us.

The Buckeye State is closely divided between Republicans and Democrats – depending who turns out in a given election year – but Republicans hold a supermajority in both the Ohio House and Senate. The current system of giving the party in power wide latitude to draw district maps has resulted in politicians picking their constituents instead of the other way around. Most districts are either strongly Republican or strongly Democratic, and the closest voters come to having a choice is in occasional primary races.

After several attempts to change the process over three-plus decades, Republicans and Democrats have come together on a reform that has many supporters and no organized opposition. Among its features:

•It creates a redistricting commission with least two members from the minority party and incentivizes bipartisan cooperation by stipulating if a new map is approved without two minority votes it has to be redrawn in four years instead of 10.

•All meetings of the redistricting commission must be open to the public.

•Mapping criteria include keeping communities together by not splitting cities, townships and counties when possible, and making the political distribution of the districts match the political preferences of voters statewide.

Issue 1 has been endorsed not only by the state Republican and Democratic parties but also the League of Women Voters, Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union and others.

It would be naive to think all politics will or even can be removed from the process, but Issue 1 is a major improvement.

For too long, the party in power in Ohio – whichever party it happened to be – has taken advantage of the once-a-decade redistricting to draw the lines to its maximum benefit.

Let’s make sure 2021 is different. Vote for Issue 1 on Nov. 3 to reform the process and so we can turn our attention to the other half of the gerrymandering problem: how Ohio’s congressional lines are drawn.

Issue 1 ballot language

Creates a bipartisan, public process for drawing legislative districts

The proposed amendment would:

• End the partisan process for drawing Ohio House and Senate districts, and replace it with a bipartisan process with the goal of having district boundaries that are more compact and politically competitive.
• Ensure a transparent process by requiring public meetings, public display of maps, and a public letter explaining any plan the Commission adopts by a simple majority vote.
• Establish the bipartisan Ohio Redistricting Commission, composed of 7 members including the Governor, the Auditor of State, the Secretary of State, and 4 members appointed by the majority and minority leaders of the General Assembly.
• Require a bipartisan majority vote of 4 members in order to adopt any final district plan, and prevent deadlock by limiting the length of time any plan adopted without bipartisan support is effective.

If passed, the amendment will become effective immediately.