WASHINGTON DC — “The last redistricting cycle came during a period of stable partisan alignments that persisted from 1995 to 2005. Redistricters could pretty well count on voters voting the same way they had last time and the time before.

Now we seem to be in a period of very unstable partisan alignments. What looks like a safe seat based on 2008 numbers may not look safe under 2010 numbers. And those numbers may not be etched in stone. No one I know is predicting confidently how Americans will vote in 2012.

In the end, the voters get a say. But in an otherwise close election, redistricting can determine control of the House. And that can make an enormous difference in legislative outcomes, as it has during the past decade.” Michael Barone, The Columbus Dispatch.

Read the whole blog

CLEVELAND — “Sloth is a capitol sin in Columbus, given the laziest General Assembly in living memory. Latest example: The failure of the Senate, led by Republicans, and the House, led by Democrats, to craft a reform of how Ohio draws legislative districts. Wednesday came and went — the deadline for placing such a reform on November’s ballot so Ohioans could vote it up or down. Ohio legislators, last seen in Columbus June 4, did nothing.

So, late in 2011, Ohio’s governor, state auditor and secretary of state will draw new General Assembly districts, as usual. Chances are, their decisions will be driven by partisan politics, as usual. Whichever party wins two of those three “apportioning” offices this November will craft districts to favor that party’s legislative candidates. This system, created in 1851, tweaked in the 1960s, works well for the parties, not the people. Sen. John Husted, the GOP candidate for secretary of state, has pushed for redesigning the apportionment system to make more competitive legislative districts. His Democratic opponent, Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maureen O’Shaughnessy, has herself decried “a flawed system,” and noted there’s no reason the 2011 Apportionment Board couldn’t write procedural rules to guarantee openness.” Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Read the whole editorial

Martin Gottlieb: Mapmakers can do the right thing; but it’d be a first

Dayton Daily News.

Editorial: Legislature’s flop on districting just ludicrous

Dayton Daily News.

COLUMBUS — “It is now clear that Ohioans won’t be voting this year on a plan that would change the way legislative districts are drawn. Ohio Citizen Action’s Catherine Turcer is one of the activists who have been pushing for that option. She says she’s sad the deadline for putting the issue on the ballot will pass without action on the issue.

‘Redistricting happen every ten years,’said Turcer. ‘This was our last opportunity before the lines are redrawn. It’s so depressing to get this far. You get so close and you haven’t even left the parking lot.’

The legislature left for summer break in June without passing legislation that would have allowed the issue to be put on this November’s ballot.”

— Bill Cohen, Ohio Public Radio

listen to the report

House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beachwood) said Tuesday that efforts were unsuccessful to place a bipartisan reapportionment reform plan on the November ballot.

COLUMBUS — “Asked to comment on Budish’s announcement today, Catherine Turner, Director of the Money in Politics Project and legislative director for Ohio Citizen Action, said it was clear that when the Ohio General Assembly left for recess it was truly a long shot. She said it’s hard to work through contentious issues at a distance, and that both Speaker Budish and Sen. Husted worked hard until the last minute to reach some consensus on reforming the system. ‘Technology is great but it’s hard to work out differences during a sanctioned break,’ she said, noting that ‘Like marriage counseling, it’s hard to work out your differences if your not in the same room, or in this case at the Statehouse.’

Turcer said in an email that the way Ohio legislative lines will be redrawn in 2011 is fundamentally unfair. ‘It’s one of the ways in which entrenched political interests hold onto political power and stymie the will of the people,’ she observed, adding that ‘We got so close to getting this on the ballot. You think you’ve come so far but you haven’t even left the parking lot.’

She said reform will have to wait a really long time, and that current lines will be in place for 10 years.” John Michael Spinelli, Cleveland Examiner.

Read the whole story

Ohio legislature fails to approve plan to overhaul process for redrawing legislative districts

Joe Guillen, Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Redistrict plan dies from lack of accord

Jim Siegel, Columbus Dispatch.

DAYTON — “There won’t be a proposed constitutional amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot to change how Ohio draws state legislative districts.

‘The corpse is definitely in the coffin,’ Richard Gunther, Ohio State University professor of political science, said on Wednesday, Aug. 3. The issue is dead, at least for this year, Gunther added…

The House and Senate previously had passed different versions of a proposed amendment to change the current system, criticized as a winner-take-all process that produces uncompetitive districts.” William Hershey, Dayton Daily News.

Read the whole story

Sen. Jon Husted

COLUMBUS — “A Republican state lawmaker and candidate for Secretary of State is still pushing for a compromise on a ballot issue to change the way Ohio draws its legislative districts.

Sen. Jon Husted, who represents a Dayton-area district, said he hasn’t ‘given up hope’ that Republicans and Democrats will agree on a resolution before next week’s deadline.

‘The phones have been lighting up with both the good government groups and others who are interested in getting this done, seeing if we can’t get a compromise proposal on the table,’ Husted said July 28 during a stop at the Ohio State Fair. “We’ve got counter offers and offers out there right now and hopefully they’re going to gain some traction.’” Marc Kovac, Stow Sentry.

Read the whole story

TOLEDO — “The state House and Senate have passed separate versions of legislation that would set guidelines for the next redistricting effort, once data from the 2010 Census are available. The House plan is better, but either would be more bipartisan and publicly inclusive than the discredited status quo.

But the two houses have not reconciled the differences in their respective versions, which would amend the state Constitution, so they could submit a single proposal to voters. The deadline for getting such a plan on the November ballot is next week.

Lawmakers would have to interrupt their summer holiday to return to Columbus and craft and pass a final plan. They have given no indication they will do so.” editorial, Toledo Blade.

Read the whole story

Ohio lawmakers need to act on redistricting proposals

letter to the editor, Marietta Times.

Lawmakers’ inaction denies Ohio chance for better representation

COLUMBUS — “With time running out to put a plan on the November ballot, the General Assembly has let down Ohio voters by failing to offer them a plan to improve the way state and federal legislative districts are drawn.

This is a huge missed opportunity.

Voters are in an angry and unpredictable mood, so neither Democrats nor Republicans can be sure they’ll have the upper hand after the November election. That’s the ideal time for lawmakers to change the rules of how districts are drawn.” The Columbus Dispatch.

Read the whole story

WASHINGTON DC — “In the previous round of redistricting, according to a 2002 survey of authorities we conducted with our colleague Karin Mac Donald, most states did not provide any tools, facilities, dedicated assistance or software to support the public in developing redistricting plans. Many states failed to provide even minimal transparency by making data available, providing information about their plans online or accepting publicly submitted plans. Many redistricting authorities have not made firm plans to support transparency or public participation in the current round of redistricting.

In the coming year, however, technological advancements will enable anyone with a Web browser and an interest in how he or she is represented to draw district maps of his or her community and state that meet the same requirements as official submissions. Under the direction of scholars at the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute, and with consultation from an array of experts in redistricting issues, we have developed a set of principles for transparency and public participation. These principles have been endorsed by an array of stakeholders, including Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of the United States.

Americans will be able to participate directly in their democracy by offering plans to be compared with the politician-drawn maps. The public and even the courts will no longer have to accept that whatever is devised by politicians in the backroom.” Michael McDonald & Micah Altman, Washington Post.

Read the whole story