The ballot measure, known as Issue 1, would replace the current Ohio Redistricting Committee with a 15-member panel that is being touted by its supporters as an independent and neutral body of fair-minded Ohio citizens.
The redistricting process affects 15 congressional districts, 33 state Senate districts, and 99 state House districts.
An editorial by The Cincinnati Enquirer, published in support of Issue 1, says Republicans have ruined voters’ trust with years of gerrymandering trickery to help their own party.
That glowing endorsement of Issue 1 is nothing like a New York Post op-ed written by Vivek Ramaswamy. In his article, the former GOP presidential candidate says Ohio is being promised “redistricting reform” by Eric Holder, the former Obama attorney, and his National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
Holder and his group, Ramaswamy writes, are “trying to fundamentally shift power away from the democratically elected voices of the people and toward a small unaccountable group that’s elected by no one.”
The editorial by the Inquirer, which says approval of Issue 1 would “distribute political power more equally,” doesn’t name or acknowledge the far-left groups pouring millions into the ballot measure. The group behind Issue 1, Citizens Not Politicians, is funded by national organizations including the ACLU and the George Soros-supported Tides Foundation.
Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, says Ohio voters should vote “no” and reject Issue 1 on Nov. 5.
“You would be forced to essentially gerrymander the state for the Left,” Snead, mirroring the Post op-ed, tells AFN.
“If you actually look at what you would have to do in order to draw new districts for state and federal legislative races, to comply with these rules, you would essentially wind up costing the voters of Ohio, first of all, the ability to be represented within their communities,” he says. “Secondly, you will wind up with more liberals winning elections by design."
Supporters of Issue 1 say the 15-person “citizens committee” creates a fair and impartial body to oversee redistricting but critics warn the confusing, multi-step selection process provides lots of opportunities for politics and cronyism.
"These unelected, taxpayer-funded commissioners could only be removed by their colleagues, even if they engaged in gross misconduct or criminal acts. Citizens of Ohio be damned," Ramaswamy writes.
What is really happening, Snead concludes, is a high-stakes fight over political power in which Ohio could be a test run for the rest of the country.
“That's the game that's being played,” he warns, “and it's being played at the expense of Ohioans."
