Redistricting plan stays stuck in limbo

November 10, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS

Republican leaders in the Ohio House continue to negotiate behind the scenes with their Democratic counterparts on congressional redistricting.

But time may be running out for the two sides to reach an accord.

“I think as a practical matter, if we don’t pass this bill through the Legislature as an emergency next week, then we drop back House Bill 319, and we go to two primaries,” said Rep. Matt Huffman, a Republican from Lima and primary sponsor of the plan.

Congressional district lines are redrawn every decade to account for population changes noted in the decennial U.S. Census.

The Ohio House and Senate OK’d new congressional district maps [House Bill 319] in September in votes that were along party lines.

Democrats opposed the plan, saying that the resulting boundaries were drawn to ensure Republican victories over the next decade. The Ohio Democratic Party subsequently launched a referendum to place the redistricting plan before voters in November 2012.

House Republicans introduced a new redistricting plan [House Bill 369] last week, with hopes of gaining enough Democratic support to pass it and stop the referendum effort.

The House’s Rules and Reference Committee had a first hearing Wednesday on the legislation, which includes revised district boundaries and provisions to reset Ohio’s 2012 primaries to a single date in March rather than two dates, in March and June.

“This map represents our efforts to reach out and incorporate the suggestions of members of both parties after several efforts to frankly derail a fair and legal map that was vetted through the legislative process and several public hearings around the state,” Huffman said.

He added, “I ask for your support of HB 369, which unifies primaries, creates competitive districts that protect and expand minority voting opportunities and adheres to federal law regarding congressional redistricting.”

But Democrats on the committee weren’t budging from their opposition Wednesday.

“This is still an ugly map,” said House Minority Leader Armond Budish, a Democrat from the Cleveland area. “It is still a partisan, gerrymandered map.”