Waiting for Democrats

The state could use an improved way for drawing legislative districts. Will the Ohio House deliver on the necessary constitutional amendment?

Voters often complain about unresponsive government. Then why not give them the opportunity to elect representatives more likely to cross party lines to reach sensible compromises? That’s the essential goal of a proposed constitutional amendment that would improve the way legislative and congressional districts are redrawn in Ohio.

The trouble is, just two weeks remain before a Feb. 3 deadline to place an amendment on the May 4 ballot. At this point, the promising plan passed in September by the Republican-controlled Senate remains stalled in the Ohio House.

There, majority Democrats keep saying they will come up with their own idea, but nothing has materialized. The foot-dragging is especially annoying because Sen. Jon Husted, a Kettering Republican, is ready to look at altering his proposal.

The timing is critical in other respects. As the census count approaches, political uncertainties make it hard to tell which party will control the process of drawing new district boundaries. That gives both sides an incentive to consider a better way. But once November’s elections get closer, the mood for compromise will vanish as outcomes come into view.

Without change, the governor, auditor, secretary of state and a lawmaker from each party will redraw legislative lines. The party winning two of the statewide offices surely will give itself as many safe seats as possible, cramming the opposition into a smaller number of safe seats, all of it an invitation to ideologies at the extremes. The same would happen to congressional districts, redrawn by the legislature.

Husted has in mind a bipartisan, seven-member commission. It would take five votes, including two from the minority party, to pass legislative and congressional district plans. That would encourage fairer districts in which legislators would run toward the center. Husted includes a competitiveness standard, but would not impose a strict formula. Wisely, he would rely on the commission’s judgment.

Some House Democrats favor a plan, devised by the League of Women Voters, that would open up a competition for new districts based on formulas for competitiveness, compactness, representational fairness and reducing the fragmentation of communities. Such a detailed plan should have been introduced months ago. Now? The complexity gives Democrats an excuse to stall, then look toward victories to reverse two decades of Republican control.

Democrats at the Statehouse also fear the loss of black majority districts. But nothing in Husted’s plan would alter the the demands imposed by the federal Voting Rights Act to protect minorities.

Ohio doesn’t need a decade of gridlock. Husted has advanced a sound plan. The House should act quickly to approve it. Then voters can have their say.

For the full story, go here: http://www.ohio.com/editorial/opinions/82138407.html