State Rep. Tom Letson, a Democrat from Warren, unveils his proposal to reform the way Ohio draws its legislative district lines:

And here’s the press release:

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Tom Letson (D-Warren) introduced legislation today to reform the way state legislative districts lines are drawn by removing partisanship and making the process open to the public. The bill would create specific criteria for drawing district lines to ensure competitive elections and make the process more open and transparent.

“The House plan removes partisanship and creates a more accountable and competitive election,” said State Rep. Tom Letson. “It will also make the process of reapportionment open and transparent while continuing to protect communities of interest and minority voting rights.”

The bill (HJR 15) replaces the current reapportionment process and calls for an open and public competition to draw state legislative district maps based on specific criteria. The criteria would encourage balance and ensure competitive elections. The Apportionment Board would oversee the competition. It would review and score the proposals submitted by Ohio citizens based on representational fairness, political competiveness, communities of interest and compactness.

“The House Reapportionment Reform Plan ensures that neither party has a lopsided political advantage and that district lines are drawn to ensure competitive elections,” said joint sponsor State Rep. Jennifer Garrison (D-Marietta). “By focusing on how the lines are drawn, rather than simply who draws them, this legislation will fundamentally improve the democratic process.”

Every ten years, state legislative district lines are redrawn to adjust for population shifts. The current process provides that the Apportionment Board can draw legislative districts with very little criteria and without public input. HJR 15 ensures that legislative districts align with the statewide political index and opens up the process to provide an unprecedented level of transparency.

The bill also creates a nonpolitical final arbiter to ensure that politics is left out of the reapportionment process. The final arbiter will be a panel consisting of five members, of which all are retired judges. Two panel members will be appointed by Republicans, two by Democrats, and the final member selected by the first four members of the panel.
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Below is a brief outline of the House Reapportionment Reform Plan:

AN OPEN AND PUBLIC COMPETITION

· The Ohio Apportionment Board administers an open public competition for drawing legislative districts.

· The board maintains current membership and all meetings are opened up to the public & testimony

BEGINNING THE COMPETITION

· The Apportionment Board sets the calendar & releases census/political data

· Must supply political data utilizing the three most competitive races of the past 10 years. The statewide average of this data determines the Statewide Partisan Index.

· Must provide public with necessary means to participate in the competition (i.e. software).

REQUIREMENTS OF ALL PLANS FOR ELIGIBILITY

· Plan authors must be Ohio residents & may only submit one House & one Senate Plan.

· Must draw 99 House Seats, 33 Senate Seats. Districts must be contiguous and be within 5% of population averages.

· Plans must follow all competition rules & guidelines, including those concerning federal rules & protection of minority voting rights. (Ohio Constitution currently has no minority protections)

· All plans must match the same seat allocations as Statewide Partisan Index

COMPETITION PLANS RANKED ON OBJECTIVE CRITERIA

· Representational Fairness

o Measures the balance of partisanship through competitiveness ranges

o Plans rank highest when the partisan break down of each party “mirrors” the other

o Ranges include indices of 1%, 1-3%, 3-5%,5-10%, and 10%+

o All plans with the best score then are judged on:

· Political Competitiveness

o Defined as the plan with the most districts in 0-1% range

o All plans with the best score then are judged on:

· Political Subdivisions

o Defined as the number of times municipalities are divided

o All plans with the best score then are judged on:

· Compactness

o Defined as the area of each district divided by its perimeter.

PLAN SELECTION

· The plan that best fits the criteria wins.

· Upon final selection of House plan, The Apportionment Board conducts same competition for the Senate, except requiring Senate districts to be composed of three House districts.