Redistricting plan being considered
Voters may be asked to OK constitutional amendment
Dayton Daily News
COLUMBUS | Ohio voters, for the second year in a row, may be asked to approve a constitutional amendment to change how legislative and congressional districts are drawn
House Speaker Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said Thursday that House Republicans are collaborating with interest groups to come up with a fair way of doing it.
Every 10 years, following the U.S. Census, the five member state apportionment board approves Ohio's legislative districts.
The General Assembly, in turn, votes on the congressional district map.
The system favors the political party in power by allowing them to draw districts they can win.
Husted said he wants a system that creates competitive, compact districts.
He wants to put a constitutional amendment before Ohio voters this year before a new crop of lawmakers, with an interest in maintaining the status quo, is elected.
Ohio voters in November turned down a proposed amendment that would have revamped how districts are drawn. While some Republicans campaigned against that proposal, they conceded that the current system should be improved.
Husted also said he is interested in a proposal from U.S. Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., to amend the U.S. Constitution on how U.S. House seats are apportioned to each state.
Seats now are based on the number of people each state has. Miller wants to allocate seats based on the number of U.S. citizens in each state.
Miller's bill is pending in a subcommittee chaired by U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, who likes the proposal.
He said the system now means illegal immigrants have more representation in Congress than those states that have six or fewer congressional seats. "American citizens' votes are diluted in Congress and in the election of our president," he said.
ACLU of Ohio Legal Director Jeff Gamso called the idea "yet another way to be mean to immigrants."
Contact Laura A. Bischoff at (614) 224-1624. This story contains information Cox News Service.
