Two state senators, a Republican and a Democrat, announced a plan Wednesday to reduce partisan politics from the way Ohio draws its 16 congressional districts.
Sens. Frank LaRose, a Copley Republican, and Tom Sawyer, an Akron Democrat, want to apply changes already proposed for drawing Statehouse districts to the drawing of the congressional districts.
“Now is the time to act to make the process of drawing congressional districts that are more fair and representative of the citizens of Ohio,” Sawyer said in a news release. Sawyer said the plan would reduce gerrymandering and create “logical” congressional districts.
Redistricting has become a hyper-partisan process, with the party in power able to draw maps that protect incumbents and that maintain or enlarge the party’s majority.
But Ohio voters will consider a November ballot proposal, Issue 1, that would change the process for drawing state legislative districts. The General Assembly approved the proposal by a nearly unanimous vote in December, after days of talks between both chambers and parties.
Sawyer said that Senate Joint Resolution 2, like the proposal for state legislative districts, should receive overwhelming bipartisan support in both chambers.
The plan mirrors changes proposed in Issue 1. Congressional lines would be drawn by a seven-member panel — the governor, state auditor, secretary of state and four legislative members, two each from the majority and minority parties in each chamber.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online News
