Voters may get to decide who draws legislative maps

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – 810 boxes with 731,306 signatures from all 88 Ohio counties were dropped off at the Ohio Secretary of State’s office Monday morning by a coalition called Citizens Not Politicians.

Its goal is to qualify for the November election so it can ask voters whether redistricting should be in the hands of everyday Ohioans, or if the job should remain in the hands of elected officials .

The amendment, if passed in November, would create a 15-person redistricting commission entirely composed of citizens.

“They’re Republicans, Democrats and independents, registered voters,” retired Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Conner said. “They’re not party operatives. They’re not people who have a relationship with elected officials.”

“I think there’s a few fundamental problems,” Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. “I think that the people who are making an important decision like this ought to be elected officials who are accountable to the public. Not unknown bureaucrats somewhere, someplace.”

Right now, the redistricting commission is made up of seven elected officials, four of whom rely on district lines for their reelection.

“I don’t know what where accountability is right now in the system that we have, quite frankly,” O’Conner said.

Ohio voters like Debbie Dalke said the stakes are too high to leave the map drawing up to politicians — Democrats and Republicans alike.

“What happens in government really affects us,” she said. “And when we have gerrymandered districts, we tend to have extreme candidates.”

Dalke thinks it is most responsible to take the power of map drawing away from politicians. She said that at the end of the day, it is too easy for them to think only in their own best interest.

“Whether they’re good or bad politicians, it’s job security,” Dalke said. ”That’s a temptation for all of this. I mean, if you could do something that would increase the likelihood that you’ll keep your job, that’s too big of a temptation.”

But top Ohio officials, like Huffman, said he takes issue with things in the amendment like the required appropriation “for the Commission of not less than $7 million for redistricting in 2025 and that such amount shall be adjusted for inflation in subsequent redistricting cycles.”

He said that constitutional requirement would lend itself to an even larger issue of no financial accountability.

“That dollar amount is related to the amount of money that was spent in 2022 by the legislature, by the redistricting commission in fighting for these seven unconstitutional maps, and we are not going to exceed that by one penny,” O’Conner said. “He should take some comfort in that, that we follow their lead and came up with a dollar amount that obviously they thought was reasonable in their efforts in 2022.”

Huffman said he also takes issue with the rework of map drawing restrictions.

“They’ve removed all of the controls or restrictions on how you can draw districts,” Huffman said. “We’ve negotiated with the Democrats and Republicans and all these good government groups over a few years, and it removes all the restrictions.”

Huffman described his issues with the proposal and “fundamental problems.”

“No accountability, no restrictions on how you can draw districts, and no financial accountability,” he said. “Those are three big problems.”

“It’s not complicated. It’s prescribed. It’s detailed, but it’s not complicated,” O’Conner said. “And anybody that says it is complicated, I think, has not read it.”

About 413,000 of the signatures submitted need to be validated to qualify the amendment for the November ballot. Ohioans should know within the month whether the amendment will be on the ballot.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.