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    Ballot board will describe redistricting proposal for voters

    By By Jim Provance / The Blade,

    2 days ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1WY1bC_0ullkMP100

    COLUMBUS — Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has set Aug. 16 for the Ohio Ballot Board to meet to write the language that voters will see on Nov. 5 describing a proposed constitutional amendment that would overhaul how congressional and state legislative districts are drawn.

    But the Republican official won't be there. A U.S. Army Reservist, he is on duty at Fort Liberty in North Carolina.

    His role as board chairman will be filled by former Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof, a Medina Republican whom Mr. LaRose recently named as his chief legal counsel and deputy assistant secretary of state.

    The 3-2 Republican-majority panel is tasked with providing a synopsis of a lengthy proposed amendment that voters will see at the polls and on absentee ballots. That language is supposed to provide “the substance of the proposal” and then ask voters to mark either “yes” or no.”

    Voters will consider amending the Ohio Constitution to replace separate existing processes through which elected officials adopt new congressional and state legislative district maps, usually once every 10 years, with a single 15-member commission equally divided among Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

    No elected official, politician, family member, lobbyist, staffer, or major campaign donor may serve as commissioner.

    Republicans generally oppose the change. They've controlled the process for the past several cycles and now hold super-majorities in the Ohio House, Ohio Senate, and the congressional delegation.

    Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday urged voters to reject it, promising to lead an effort to develop an alternative next year based on a process used in Iowa.

    The Citizens Not Politicians coalition this week said it had raised about $28 million since it began to qualify for the ballot and start locking up advertising time. A formal opposition committee has yet to be created, but opponents were already preparing for a battle at the Republican National Convention last month.

    The actual text of the proposed amendment is 16 pages long, not counting the text of current constitutional language that would be replaced.

    The board will meet at 11 a.m. at the Ohio Statehouse.

    In addition to Mr. Obhof, it consists of state Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R., Bowling Green), Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson (D., Toledo), state Rep. Terrence Upchurch (D., Cleveland), and William N. Morgan, of Stoutsville, a long-time appointee of the Republican-controlled Ohio House.

    Typically, proposed synopses are presented before or during the hearing, including one drafted by staff of the secretary of state's office. Witnesses testify as the board considers sometimes competing proposals.

    The board has been accused in the past of intentionally adopting language designed to elicit a specific response from voters. Last year, the board was sued for allegedly trying to stack the deck with wording on the abortion access amendment that was ultimately approved by voters. In the end, the ballot synopsis was longer than the amendment itself.

    A splintered Ohio Supreme Court ordered one minor revision to the board-approved language.

    Last summer, the court also intervened after the board adopted a summary of an amendment proposed during an August special election by Republican legislators that would have made it tougher for Ohioans to amend the constitution in the future. That question was at least partly a proactive but failed attempt to thwart the upcoming reproductive rights amendment.

    The court again ordered the board to correct an error in the language, but it did not agree with critics that Mr. LaRose had abused his role when he personally wrote a title that opponents argued was opining in favor of a “yes” vote.

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