Another day, another Vote NO editorial. This time, it's the Canton Repository against Issue 4:
State Issue 4 proposes a head-hurting mathematical formula for determining what might be considered fair election districts. We’re referring to the districts redrawn every 10 years for election of state legislators and representatives to Congress.
Just read the ballot language for Issue 4 to see for yourself how complicated it is. Then, after you become exasperated, vote “no” on Issue 4. That’s The Repository’s recommendation.
We oppose Issue 4 not merely because it is complicated, however. We oppose it because, in an effort to create “balanced” and “competitive” election districts, the proposed constitutional amendment pays too little attention to compactness and the preservation of communities of interest.
By compactness, we mean districts that do not stretch like a snake across Ohio just to scoop enough Democrats and Republicans to make the district “competitive.” By communities of interest, we mean farm areas, for instance, where certain social, economic and political ideas may be held in common by a majority of people. In the interest of balance and competition, such communities of interest could be cut up or stretched apart under Issue 4.
Right now, Ohio draws districts under a kind of spoils system. If your party wins enough elections, it can dictate how the districts will be drawn. The Republicans surely have done that for themselves. Democrats, when they were in power ages ago, did the same. The process could be made less partisan.
While a better set of reforms is waiting to be born, it would be in the interests of the Democratic Party, and, frankly, in the interests of all of Ohio, if Democrats re-established a balance of power the old-fashioned way, by finding and cultivating good candidates and winning some elections.
We don’t recommend the changes to the Ohio Constitution that Issue 4 would bring. We recommend a “no” vote.
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