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For nearly a decade, Ohio Farm Bureau has been engaged in conversations regarding redistricting reform, including supporting ballot initiatives in 2015 and 2018, as it has been a policy issue our members have long prioritized. With every new redistricting proposal, leaders of our organization are tasked with assessing the impact on rural communities and our state as a whole. 

With the current Issue 1 proposal on the ballot in November, Ohio Farm Bureau has studied the issue compared to our member-created policy and decided to officially oppose Issue 1. 

Q. What does Issue 1 propose?

A. The November proposal would replace the current commission of statewide elected officials and legislative leaders with a 15-member citizen commission of five independents and five members each from the top two political parties, currently the Republicans and Democrats. Members of the committee couldn’t be elected officials, lobbyists, or political consultants, and those nominated would be subject to a lengthy selection process that spans a multi-round discussion. To approve new districts, the commission would need nine votes, including two Republicans, two Democrats, and two independents. District drawing rules would prioritize proportionality between political parties above most other interests, including preserving communities of interest. If the citizen-led group was unable to agree on a plan, they would implement a ranked-choice voting system, eliminating the least popular plan until only one plan remained. 

The Ohio Supreme Court would review any lawsuits challenging the approved districts. The justices would use two redistricting experts, called “special masters,” to determine if mapmakers made mistakes and give the commission a week to fix them. If the commission doesn’t fix its mistakes, the special masters would fix them instead.

Q. Why does Ohio Farm Bureau oppose Issue 1?

A. Ohio Farm Bureau takes positions based on its member-developed policy. On the topic of redistricting, the organization supports review and reform of redistricting, but any new process should provide an open process with checks and balances, should redraw lines along county borders whenever possible, and ensure that there are geographic connections between communities and political subdivisions located in the legislative district. 

Issue 1 fails this policy in several respects, which leads to OFBF’s opposition. The proposal does not provide those needed checks and balances on the process or the commissioners overseeing it, including from a financial standpoint. The proposal instead requires the state to provide all funds that the commission requests, and only the commission itself can remove a commissioner. While Issue 1 does consider generally maintaining “communities of interest,” it is one of the lowest priorities and will always be secondary to political party proportionality. Current redistricting rules make keeping communities whole mandatory, and require that state Senate districts preserve county lines where possible.

Q. As a Farm Bureau member, why should you care?

A. Issue 1 prioritizes political party proportionality over communities and geographical representation. Many issues within the agricultural industry are geographical and related to our communities, not political parties, so using political party quotas to create districts would not be beneficial to rural communities and agricultural issues. Further, the lack of accountability for the stewardship of our state tax dollars raises significant concerns about this proposal. This is why Ohio Farm Bureau members have long supported redistricting efforts that preserve communities, and processes that support transparency. 

Q. What is redistricting?

A. Redistricting happens every 10 years after the U.S. Census is complete. New population data determine how many seats each state gets in the U.S. House of Representatives, in addition to how the state draws lines for Statehouse districts. Ohio currently has 15 congressional districts, 33 state Senate districts and 99 state House districts that must be redrawn to reflect the Census data and geographical distribution of such. 

Q. Ohio voters approved anti-gerrymandering language in 2015 and 2018, which were efforts Ohio Farm Bureau supported. What happened?

A. Ohio voters overwhelmingly approved anti-gerrymandering measures in 2015 and 2018 to change how state legislative and congressional districts were drawn.  

• The new rules created the Ohio Redistricting Commission, a seven-member panel of three statewide elected officials (governor, auditor and secretary of state) and four lawmakers who would draw state House and Senate districts and help with congressional districts.
• The new amendments created rules against splitting counties, municipalities and townships. The commission was also required to try to reflect recent statewide election results. 
• If the Republican-controlled commission couldn’t get approval from at least two Democrats, the maps would last for four years instead of 10.
• This process has been contentious, with political fights, missed deadlines, and legal battles that resulted in opinions from the Ohio Supreme Court, and ultimately the intervention of the federal courts. 

 

Photo by Sora Shimazaki