What’s next after the missed redistribution deadline?

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A card proposal that meets the wait time for Ohio’s new legislative districts didn’t even get a vote on Wednesday.

The seven-member Ohio Redistribution Commission on Tuesday adopted the rules by which it will operate. One of the two Democrats on the panel, Sen. Akron Vernon Sykes, also informally offered a card, but the five majority Republicans made no counter-offers that would trigger three public hearings.

This ensured that Wednesday’s original deadline would be missed.

Jen Miller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio, told the Toledo Bladem: “What is most important to us is not the deadlines, it is that we have a transparent process that fully involves the audience and that results in maps that are fair and representative of the people and meet the needs of the people and not of the parties or candidates.

A look at the process as it stands, what comes next and why it matters.

Why did the panel miss the deadline?

The information was due to be released in late March, but was pushed back to August to give Census Bureau statisticians more time to calculate late figures due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The postponement prompted states to scramble to change their redistribution deadlines.

Alabama and Ohio – the latter through GOP Attorney General Dave Yost – have sued the Census Bureau in an attempt to get the re-categorization data released earlier. As part of a settlement deal with Ohio, the bureau promised to release the redistribution data no later than Aug. 16 – a date it had previously chosen to release the numbers in an older format.

Yost alleged the delay threatened Ohio’s ability to meet voter-approved redistribution deadlines set in his state’s Constitution.

“We were thrown a curve ball,” Frank LaRose, Republican Secretary of State for Ohio and commissioner said Tuesday. “The US Census Bureau has given us an inexplicable delay which has put us in a very untenable situation. “

What happens next?

The next deadline is September 15, when commission members say they hope to have just one card to present to the public. This card is likely to be created by a political caucus – Republican or Democratic – that the commission accepts. Although the committee itself does not create maps, it could vote on changes to the map it selects, according to House Speaker Bob Cupp, Republican of Lima and co-chair of the committee.

Senate Democrats submitted the first map on Tuesday which included 44 probable Democratic districts and 55 probable Republican districts in the House, and 14 probable Democratic districts and 19 probable Republican districts in the Senate.

Akron Democrat and commission co-chair Senator Vernon Sykes said the map is constitutional and meets the goal of ending electoral districts in the state.

Senate Speaker Matt Huffman, a Republican from Lima and a member of the committee, said the map does not protect outgoing senators as required by the mapping process. Sykes said he thought the map was correct. But without a doubt, more cards are on the way.

“We could have four legislative caucus cards and then several cards presented by the public,” Huffman said.

According to the rules adopted by the commission on Tuesday, whatever map comes out of the process, there will be three public hearings in different locations. The creation of a 10-year map requires a majority vote of the committee, including the two Democrats. Creating a four-year card requires a simple majority of the committee without the two Democrats.

Why is redistribution important?

The goal of any legislative district map is to represent as fairly as possible the political makeup of the state. An unbalanced legislature – that is, one that contains members of either political party whose number does not reflect the real preference of voters – can distort the creation of laws on everything from abortion, gun control, school funding and energy policy.

Ohio Republicans currently have qualified majorities in the House and Senate.

In public hearings around the state last month seeking comment on a new map, a few witnesses defended the current maps. They argued that it is fair that Republicans are favored as they constitute the majority of voters in Ohio. An academic put the gap at 53% Republicans, 45% Democrats.

But an Associated Press analysis found Ohio’s cards to be among the most gerrymandered in the country, during a period when Republicans won more seats than expected based on percentage of vote. they received.

What about the Congress cards?

The General Assembly must complete a new map of the state’s congressional districts, which will be reduced from 16 to 15 due to slower population growth, by September 30. The redistribution commission would only get involved in this second process if state legislators cannot agree.