COLUMBUS — Talk about reforming the complicated process of redrawing state legislative districts every 10 years has been largely lost in the din over legalizing marijuana in Ohio.
Backers of Issue 1 hope to change that in the wake of a new poll that suggests voters are more likely to support it when they know what it is.
“Who would have known that marijuana is more interesting than redistricting?” asked former state Rep. Matt Huffman (R., Lima), who co-sponsored the resolution with former Rep. Vernon Sykes (D. Akron) that put the question on the ballot.
“That has taken away from the public’s interest, and that’s not terribly surprising,” Mr. Huffman said Tuesday. “That’s having an effect on our fund-raising.”
So far the Fair Districts for Ohio campaign has raised less than $300,000. It will launch a radio ad campaign within days.
“It’s not a campaign where we’re going to buy millions of dollars of TV, but if the Democratic Party and Republican Party both have this on their slate cards, that’s an effective way, we think, to communicate to voters,” Mr. Huffman said.
The campaign is counting on communication among the wide range of organizations backing the proposal, including business, labor, voting rights, government watchdog groups, faith-based, and farm groups and their members. Several attended Tuesday’s news conference to promote the issue.
An Akron Buckeye Poll, released Tuesday and conducted for the University of Akron’s Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, showed 29 percent of voters remain undecided about Issue 1. But of those who have an opinion, 55 percent lean toward a “yes” vote. Sixteen percent said they will vote “no.”
No organized opposition has emerged.
Issue 1 would change Ohio’s current system, which uses a five-member Ohio Apportionment Board — the governor, secretary of state, auditor, and two legislators of opposite parties — to redraw state Senate and House districts each decade after a U.S. Census.
The party that has held at least two of the three statewide offices has controlled the process and traditionally drawn maps to their partisan advantage. In the last two cycles that party has been the GOP, which now has super-majorities of 65-34 in the state House and 23-10 in the Senate.
The new process would add another lawmaker from each major party to the board and rename it the Ohio Redistricting Commission. It would require bipartisan support for a map that would last the entire decade and would force the panel back to the drawing board after four years if that bipartisan support is lacking.
Supporters argue the new process should lead to more geographically compact districts that split fewer communities, are more politically competitive, and, taken collectively, more closely resemble Ohio’s political makeup as a whole.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com or 614-221-0496.
First Published October 21, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
