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Ohio Republicans accused of gerrymandering in plan
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Republican lawmakers made public their plans for redrawing Ohio’s congressional districts, and the resulting legislation appears to be on a fast track for passage by the Ohio House before the end of the week.
Backers believe the state’s new 16 districts, down two from the current 18 because of population changes, will be fair for Republican and Democratic incumbents and will pass constitutional muster.
“The effort to create the map reflects the traditionally recognized redistricting principles of compactness, contiguity, preservation of counties and political subdivisions, preservation of communities of interest, preservation of cores of prior districts, protection of incumbents and compliance with the Voting Rights Act,” said Rep. Matt Huffman, a Republican from Lima who is chairman of the House’s State Government and Elections Committee.
But Democrats and voting rights advocates countered that the new district lines were drawn by Republicans behind closed doors with no real opportunity for review by the public.
“We’ve had this data available for five months, yet we see a map for the first time today, and we are being asked to vote on it in 72 hours,” said Rep. Kathleen Clyde, a Democrat from Kent.
Dan Tokaji, a professor of election law at Ohio State University, added during testimony Tuesday that the proposed plan “has all the earmarks of a partisan gerrymander.”