Ohio-Congress-Map-2012-2020.jpg
Two Democratic lawmakers want Ohio to change how it draws congressional district maps this year to align with a plan approved last year for Statehouse legislative districts.
(Rich Exner, The Plain Dealer)
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A pair of House Democrats announced Thursday a plan to change how Ohio draws its congressional districts, but a similar plan lacked support last year in the Republican-led legislature.
The proposal, introduced by Reps. Kathleen Clyde of Kent and Mike Curtin of Marble Cliff, resembles one that the Republican-led General Assembly approved last year for drawing Statehouse districts. That plan goes before voters in November.
Here is how congressional lines would be drawn:
- A seven-member panel comprising the governor, state auditor, secretary of state and four legislative members -- two each from the majority and minority parties in each chamber -- would draw district maps.
- Maps must minimize the number of splits of counties, municipalities and contiguous townships, with priority given first to large counties, then smaller counties, then municipalities, and then contiguous townships.
- No district map could be drawn "primarily to favor or disfavor a political party."
- Two minority member votes would be required to approve a district map.
- Without two minority votes, the map would be approved but only for four years, during which time elections could bring new members.
Clyde and Curtin's plan has no Republican co-sponsors.
Currently, congressional lines are drawn every 10 years by a committee of lawmakers and approved by the General Assembly. The setup allows the party in power -- Republicans in 2011 -- to draw lines and approve maps without minority-party input. Republicans hold 12 of Ohio's 16 congressional seats yet only won 55 percent of the votes in recent congressional elections statewide.
"Our current congressional redistricting process disenfranchises Ohio citizens," Clyde said Thursday in a press release. "Meaningful reform is needed to give our constituents better representation and greater transparency and accountability from their government. Our proposal will add fairness and common sense to the district-drawing process."
State lawmakers considered a similar scheme late last year, but Republican leaders dropped the plan because they said changing the congressional district process could conflict with a pending U.S. Supreme Court case involving Arizona's process. That decision is expected in June.
The plan announced Thursday would return the map-drawing power to state lawmakers, as it is now, if the Supreme Court ruling nullifies the proposed system. Lawmakers would still have to abide by the criteria for maps.