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http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/11/overwhelming_passage_of_issue.html#incart_river
Now if the rest of the country could do the same we could finally end the days of manufactured, government-shutdown crisis.
This is a great day for Americans. Terrible day for republicans.
Now if the rest of the country could do the same we could finally end the days of manufactured, government-shutdown crisis.
This is a great day for Americans. Terrible day for republicans.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohioans on Tuesday approved an amendment to the state constitution that both Republicans and Democrats say will lead to a fairer process for drawing state legislative districts.
By an overwhelming margin, voters approved the measure. With nearly 92 percent of the vote counted, the issue was passing 72 percent to 28 percent. The yes votes outnumbered the no votes by nearly 1.2 million.
"This is an amendment that does renew faith in the democratic process," said Catherine Turcer of Common Cause Ohio. Common Cause and the League of Women Voters helped organize the Fair Districts = Fair Elections Coalition to back the issue.
"For so long, these state legislative districts have been drawn to favor one party over the other," Turcer said. The amendment clears the way for changes that will bolster credibility of the election process, she said.
"Ohio voters sent a clear message today," said Carrie Davis, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. "They want districts to be fair and the winners to be determined by the voters."
Voters bought into the issue, in part, because of the teamwork that went into getting it on the ballot, said Matt Huffman, a former Republican representative from Lima. "That's how you pass one of these issues."
Huffman co-chaired the Fair Districts for Ohio campaign with former Democratic Rep. Vernon Sykes of Akron.
Passage of Issue 1 means that the process for redrawing boundaries for General Assembly districts will change, from the makeup of the board that draws those lines to the level of transparency that will be required.
The state redraws the boundaries for Ohio House and Senate districts and for the U.S. House of Representatives every 10 years -- the next time will be in 2021, following the 2020 census.The legislature is in charge of drawing the map for congressional districts. Issue 1 does not change that process.
What it does change is the makeup of the apportionment board, which draws the map for state districts. Many view the current system as giving one party too much control to tailor the districts to its advantage.
The apportionment board -- made up of the governor; secretary of state; auditor; and two legislators, one from each party -- will be expanded to include four legislators, two from each party.
That change ensures there will be at least two members from the minority party on the new seven-member board. There was only one Democrat on the five-member board that drew the current districts in 2011.
Support from two members of the minority party is required to approve a map for the full decade. A map still can be approved by a majority vote, but without the two votes from the minority party, the whole process will have to be redone four years later.
By then, term limits and subsequent elections likely will have pushed some apportionment board members out of office.
The whole process will be on display for Ohioans, too. Under the current system, much of the apportionment board's work was done behind closed doors.
Issue 1 requires the board to hold at least three public meetings around Ohio that also will be streamed for online viewing. The public will be allowed to comment on a proposed map, and the board will have to issue an explanation for its final map.
Districts must be compact, and the commission must work from large to small counties, keeping counties, towns and townships in the same districts if possible. If the commission must split a county, municipal corporation or township between districts, it must explain its actions in a statement accompanying the map.
Issue 1 had bipartisan support in the Ohio House and Senate when it was put on the ballot, and little opposition in the runup to the election.
Huffman and Sykes co-sponsored the House joint resolution that became Issue 1.
In addition, Common Cause Ohio, the League of Women Voters and others formed the Fair Districts = Fair Elections Coalition to do grassroots work on the issue.
More than 100 organizations spanning the political spectrum backed the issue, from the ACLU of Ohio to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
The amendment, Turcer said, should be viewed as a legacy for Huffman, Sykes and former House Speaker William Batchelder, a Medina Republican. All three supported reforming the process, Turcer said, and continued to back the effort even after they were forced from office by term limits.
