Still A Problem

Ohio’s efforts to curb gerrymandering are not working and voters must once again amend the constitution to take politics completely out of the process, the retiring chief justice of the state Supreme Court said Thursday. The current redistricting commission, created by constitutional amendment in 2015, has had no discernible effect on gerrymandering and as a result voters this fall will elect candidates based on unconstitutional legislative districts, Republican Maureen O’Connor said in her annual and final state of the judiciary speech. A new amendment must create a commission that restricts partisan politics by prohibiting elected officials from serving, O’Connor said. The current Ohio Redistricting Commission consists of elected lawmakers and state officeholders, including the governor, and has a 5-2 Republican majority.