Terra Goodnight · February 6, 2018

Bipartisan Congressional redistricting plan expected today

Updated 11 a.m. with current status. Today, a bipartisan proposal to reform how Ohio draws Congressional district lines moved to the Ohio House, after passing on a 31-0 vote in the Ohio Senate. SJR5, which was amended yesterday to incorporate changes sought by redistricting reform advocates, would put the issue before voters on the May 8 primary ballot. With the changes approved by the Senate, SJR5 now requires a bipartisan process including requiring a map to need 50% of minority party support to be enacted for 10 years, keeps communities together, prevents one-party gerrymandering, maintains the Governor’s ability to veto a map, and allows for citizens to overturn a map via referendum. House leadership added SJR5 to the agenda for this morning’s meeting of the House Rules and Reference Committee. After no testimony or debate, the resolution was reported favorably by the committee. From here it will go to the full House for debate at the 12:30 pm session. Video of House session can be viewed live at ohiochannel.org. If passed, the resolution would then be filed with the Secretary of State to be placed on the May primary ballot. Given the apparent bipartisan support for the measure, it has a very high likelihood of passage during the primary and bringing about significant reform to Ohio’s elections.