Congressional District Maps Challenged for 2012

The momentum resulting of a Republican majority in the Ohio House and Senate seemed at first to assure that the new congressional districts for the next decade were a "fait accompli".  However, in an effort to assure that it would not be challenged, the Republicans attached a budgetary component to the measure.  Under state law, that supposedly assures that the member can not be subject to a referendum.  However, the Ohio Supreme Court challenged that cynical maneuver, and permitted the Ohio Democratic Party to move forward with a referendum challenge of the Congressional map, gerrymandered to such an extent that it would assure 12-4 Republican-to-Democratic majority, in a state that went for President Obama in 2012.  

Chris Redfern of the Ohio Democratic Party, weighed in yesterday: 

"There will be no congressional districts as drawn," Redfern said. "Those districts have disappeared with this action and the ruling of the Ohio Supreme Court. The legislature, rather than playing political games now, should come and sit down and draw districts that fully reflect the will of the people of this state."

 This bodes well for next year's election cycle.  Previous petition drives have shown a more progressive bent to the will of the Ohio voters, who have come out strong in polls against SB5 / Issue 2, to be addressed this November, and have also signed up in sufficient numbers to put HB 194 (Voter Suppression Bill) on the ballot in November 2012. 

Key Points Against Voter Suppression Bill - HB 194

This law is part of a more comprehensive strategy to further restrict the rights of those who do not vote Republican. The content below, repurposed from this PDF, provides the talking points agains the law.  If you haven't already, put your name on one of the petitions circulating seeking the repeal of this law. 

VOTER SUPPRESSION BILL – HB 194

1. SEVERELY RESTRICTS VOTING RIGHTS & OPPORTUNITIES

• Dramatically reduces In-Person Early Voting from 35 days to 12 days (10 weekdays, 2 half-Saturdays)
• Prohibits In-Person Early Voting during the busiest 3 days of early voting (Sat/Sun/Mon)
• Cuts mail-in voting from 35 days to 21 days making it harder to receive and return a ballot in time
• Implements more aggressive registration purging without adequate assurances that qualified voters are not being removed from the rolls

2. NEEDLESSLY DISQUALIFIES ELIGIBLE VOTES

• Stricter Requirements - Requires that votes be thrown out if every single field – including full social security number – is not completed on a provisional or absentee ballot envelope.
• Throwing Out Ballots - Throws out ballots where voter intent is clear, such as when a voter fills in the oval by a candidate’s name and also writes in the same name. There were 12,207 of these votes in 2008.
• No Solution to Poll Worker Error - Instead of finding a solution to determining poll worker error in provisional voting, the bill presumes voter error instead of error by trained poll workers. Poll worker error will continue to cause ballots to be thrown out.
• Creates more provisional voting - Increases the number of provisional ballots, which are less likely to be properly counted, by eliminating the requirement that poll workers will be required to direct voters to their correct precinct and by prohibiting poll workers form helping voters complete forms.

3. ELIMINATES LOCAL CONTROL & REQUIRES “ONE‐SIZE‐FITS‐ALL” APPROACH

• Prohibits setting up satellite locations for early voting unless 3 of 4 members approve
• Prohibits setting early vote hours that make sense for the county even though some counties have fewer than 15,000 residents and others have more than 1,000,000 residents.
• Prohibits mailing of absentee ballot request forms to all registered voters to shorten election day lines and add convenience for busy working voters as well as elderly voters
• Prohibits paying for postage for ballot return to ensure voters complete voting process