Six years after Ohioans overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment to change the way Ohio’s house and senate districts are drawn, the process of preparing new districts has begun.
On Monday, the Ohio Redistricting Commission held the first two of ten scheduled public hearings to listen to comments from the public. A Monday morning hearing at Cleveland State University was followed by a Monday afternoon hearing at Youngstown State University.
In Cleveland, more than 120 people jammed a meeting room at the CSU Student Center to offer comments, suggestions, and advice to the seven commissioners.
The intent of the new redistricting process is to eliminate gerrymandering – the drawing of legislative districts that favor one political party over another. While a long-standing practice in American democracy, gerrymandering has become more efficient in recent years as computer programs and high-quality data on voting patterns enabled political partisans to craft districts that were highly favorable to their party.
In Ohio, following the 2010 census, Republican lawmakers used a narrow lead in representation to create state and congressional districts that magnified their advantage. As a result, in 2012, Republican Congressional candidates state-wide earned 52 percent of the vote, but ended up with 75 percent of the Congressional seats. That pattern has remained the same in each election since. Republicans gained and maintained similar advantages in the Ohio House and Senate.
Ohio voters of both parties responded in 2015 by amending the Ohio constitution to create a bi-partisan redistricting commission and establish a set of stringent requirements for newly-drawn statehouse districts. In 2018, voters approved a similar amendment to manage redrawing of Congressional districts.
With the release of 2020 census data, the redistricting commission is now beginning the redrawing process. But the deadline for new state legislative maps is September 1.
The ten public hearings are intended to give the public a chance to contribute their ideas about the redistricting process to the commissioners.
Members of the public attend Ohio Redistricting Commission public hearing at Cleveland State University
photo by Jeffrey Crossman
Catherine LaCroix, co-president of the Greater Cleveland branch of the League of Woman Voters, reminded commissioners that more than 700 volunteers worked with the League to pass the amendments and that the amendments each received more than 71 percent of the vote.
“The commission owes Ohioans faithful adherence to the intent of the voters,” LaCroix said.
Numerous speakers described gerrymandering as a threat to democracy, noting that by creating legislative seats that are safe for a particular party, voters of both parties will believe that their vote doesn’t count, reducing voter turnout and citizen participation in the electoral process.
CSU professor Brian Glassman noted that gerrymandering discourages potential candidates and reduces new and potentially better ideas in the legislature. “Gerrymandering removes us farther from the principle that every vote should count equally,” he added.
Elizabeth Rader, a former Congressional candidate from Geauga County, said that gerrymandering in Ohio is creating a one-party state, leading to no choice at all for many voters. Non-competitive districts favor extreme candidates who are unresponsive to constituents because they are certain to be re-elected.
“Competitive districts are good for everyone,” Rader said. She urged commissioners to “support democracy.”
Several speakers brought their own maps to provide options for commissioners. But some speakers complained that commissioners should have released draft maps before public hearings, so that the public could respond to what the commissioners are proposing.
Many speakers criticized the commission for waiting until the census data was released before holding public hearings; for only announcing the hearings a week before they were held; and for scheduling all hearings during the work day on week days, limiting opportunities for people who work regular hours to attend. One speaker pointed out that the commission’s website – which is supposed to enable people to submit testimony and maps – was not fully operational until last Friday.
A Cleveland Heights resident said, “I am almost getting the sense that this process is not being taken seriously. How could this be? You had three years to get ready for this.”
“Members of the public have put aside everything to be here today,” she added. “But we are not seeing the same consideration from Republican members of the commission.” Of the five Republicans on the seven-member commission, only one – Ohio Auditor Keith Faber – attended the hearing. The other four Republican members, including commission co-chair Speaker of the House Robert Cupp, sent replacements. Both Democrats on the commission attended the hearing.
A former teacher from North Ridgeville said, “the onus is on Republicans. There are five of you and only two Democrats. This is your opportunity to be courageous. Nobody wants to give up their job, but this is not right. You know this.”
Sherry Obrenski, president of the Cleveland Teacher’s Union, told commissioners, “We all know that the way districts are currently drawn is unfair. I implore you today to listen to all that you have heard, take it to heart, take it back to those that should be in this room with us today, and do the right thing.”
“Not only are the voters of Ohio watching, but their children are watching. They deserve better.”
August 23, 2021
To submit written testimony or maps to the Redistricting Commission, or find out the dates and times of future meetings, go to the Redistricting Commission website at https://redistricting.ohio.gov/