This year's Ohio Issue 2 is a constitutional amendment to change the way we draw our state's congressional and state legislative districts, with the aim of more fairness and more accurate political and geographic representation.
In our current system, every ten years the party in power redistricts in a manner advantageous to itself. This last happened in September 2011, when Ohio's GOP legislators redrew the maps in such a lop-sided and self-serving fashion as to all but guarantee their party an overwhelming majority (e.g., 12 to 14 of our 16 congressional districts) for the next decade.
Many political watchers felt that this time, the R's had finally gone too far. (See the archives for "Buster Takes On Redistricting", posted 9/16/11.) An opposition group, Voter's First, gathered enough signatures to put Issue 2 on the fall ballot, and also argued successfully before the State Supreme Court for more accurate ballot language.
Issue 2 establishes a 12-member appointed panel to immediately draw our district maps more fairly. Four members will be Democrats, four will be Republicans, and four will be unaffiliated.
Naturally, the GOP is howling in outrage and spending big to defeat Issue 2. Their big complaint is that the panel would be "unaccountable" (i.e. appointed, not elected.)
Buster merely points out that our ridiculously gerrymandered current map (below) is the product of our fine "accountable" elected dipshits. An appointed commission could hardly do worse.
"Yes" on Issue 2.
When will we see some "Yes on 2" ads? We're gonna need some.
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