Following is a summary of the key elements of a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment to end partisan gerrymandering of Congressional Districts in Ohio. The proposed amendment is a citizens initiative and is being promoted for passage in the 2018 general election. Petitions are currently being circulated throughout Ohio. 306,000 valid signatures are required to get the amendment on the ballot. I strongly endorse the initiative.

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Summary of the Proposed Ohio Constitutional Amendment

•No congressional district map shall be drawn to favor or disfavor a political party or candidates.

•Each district will be nearly equal in population (one person, one vote) with the splitting of communities (counties, cities and townships) kept to a minimum.

•Districts shall be geographically compact.

•The Voting Rights Act and other state and federal laws that protect minority representation shall be respected.

•Representational fairness is required.  This means that the congressional map should reflect the will of Ohio voters.  This reinforces the prohibition on gerrymandering or drawing a map to favor one political party over another. The proposal requires that partisan makeup reflects statewide elections over the previous ten years.

•The bipartisan Ohio Redistricting Commission (established by Issue 1 in 2015) will draw state legislative, as well as congressional district maps.

•The Ohio Redistricting Commission includes the Governor, the Auditor, the Secretary of State and appointees of the Speaker of the Ohio House, House Minority Leader, the Ohio Senate President and the Senate Minority Leader.

•Any Ohio citizen can submit a congressional map to the Ohio Redistricting Commission for consideration and the Ohio Redistricting Commission is required to provide time between introducing proposed congressional maps and voting or passing them to provide time for public input.

•To pass a new congressional map requires a majority of the Ohio Redistricting Commission approve the map with a minimum of two votes from the minor political party.

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