Ohio Republicans plow ahead with go-it-alone redistricting -- despite gerrymandering limits [View all]
Source: Politico
By BRITTANY GIBSON
11/18/2021 04:30 AM EST
Ohio voters in 2018 overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure that put guardrails on state legislators ahead of the next redistricting. But now that Republicans in Columbus are working to finalize a new congressional map this week, they’re essentially ignoring those limits.
The constitutional amendment passed three years ago gave state legislators a choice: Pass new district lines that earn support from both parties, and they will stand for the full decade. If the map passes on a party-line vote, it will only be in effect for the next two elections and need to be replaced in four years.
The goal of the amendment was to encourage lawmakers in both parties to work together in redistricting and produce maps that reflect the state’s political orientation. But the GOP, which controls every lever of state government in Ohio, is instead moving at break-neck speed on congressional lines that could favor the party in 13 of its 15 districts.
Without any Democratic support, this map will only be allowed to be used for four years as opposed to the usual 10 years because of one of the new reforms. Brown, the top Democrat on the state House committee, said he believes Republicans might have been OK with using that loophole all along.
That’s because they redrew the state legislative lines using the same process: A party-line vote that, combined with the state’s political orientation — an increasing Republican lean, though still competitive — will likely keep the GOP in charge come 2025.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/18/ohio-gerrymandering-redistricting-republicans-522922
Republicans: The Law & Order Party. Except for actual
elections, of course.
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