Redistricting hopes to heal with bipartisan deal
Republicans and Democrats formed a historic bipartisan agreement today (like 4:00 a.m. today) to change Ohio’s process for drawing legislative districts. The deal comes after days of closed-door negotiations and talks that went until almost 2:00 a.m. this morning. The deal is build-off another redistricting plan that was passed by the House last week, but with changes that one Senator said made this new plan a better bill.
With the current system, the party that controls the five member board (three statewide officeholders and two legislators) can gerrymander* districts. Meaning that the party that doesn’t control the board has almost no say in how a district is drawn. The new deal will expand the board to seven members: Governor, Secretary of State, and four lawmakers (two from each party).
The senate passed the plan and the House is expected to vote on it after it returns to session on Wedesday. To take effect, the plan would be considered a constitutional amendment and will need a three-fifths vote of the Senate and House, plus approval on the Nov. 2015 ballot.
Senate Minority Leader Joe Schiavoni said that maps drawn under the new plan will create more competitive elections.
That means I’ll be reinstalling adblocker once election season kick in.
*gerrymandering: practice that create an advantage for a particular (political) party or group by manipulating district boundaries to create partisan advantaged district
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
