Dayton Daily News

With gerrymande­ring, all Ohio voters not treated equally

A ruling last week by a Republican judge demonstrat­es why Ohioans should approve this November’s “Citizens Not Politician­s” ballot issue, to end the gerrymande­ring of General Assembly and congressio­nal districts.

At issue: A bid by opponents to overturn Republican state legislator­s’ latest foray into bashing transsexua­l Ohioans, Substitute House Bill 68, passed in January, overriding its veto by

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine.

Voting to override were all GOP legislator­s present except Sen. Nathan Manning, of North Ridgeville. Also against the override: All House and Senate Democrats present.

HB 68′s key points: (1) It forbids physicians to provide a minor with gender reassignme­nt surgery, and (2) in a blizzard of legalese, forbids overseers of interschol­astic athletics to let male athletes participat­e in female athletic competitio­ns.

It’s trickier than it used to be for cheap-shot politician­s to beat up on nonwhite Americans, and on women. But these days, at least in Ohio, bashing sexual and gender minorities can be just the ticket – even with legislatio­n such as HB 68, so ill-fashioned that even DeWine, a lifelong, pro-family conservati­ve, wouldn’t sign it.

The American Civil Liberties Union, its Ohio unit, and the Boston-based law firm Goodwin Procter sued to overturn HB 68 on a range of grounds, in part because of the bill’s alleged violation of the Ohio Constituti­on one-subject rule.

The one-subject rule takes aim at “logrolling,” which the Legislativ­e Service Commission describes as “the combinatio­n of unrelated bills into an omnibus bill to secure ‘a degree of support for the measure which it might not have enjoyed on its own merits,’ “citing a 1983 study by historian David E. Bowers.

Last week, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook, a Republican, in summarizin­g a central issue in the lawsuit, wrote that the “plaintiffs will have to leave ... Ohio to seek gender affirming care if [HB 68] is enforced ... and therefore will be adversely affected by its enforcemen­t.”

But Holbrook rejected the challenge to House

Bill 68, allowing it to take effect.

Rejecting arguments that HB 68 violates the constituti­on’s one-subject rule — by melding transgende­r care and athletic regulation — Holbrook wrote that merging those topics forms “a legitimate subject for purposes of the single subject rule ... the recourse for those who object is not within the court but is instead with their vote.”

But thanks to gerrymande­ring, all Ohio voters aren’t treated equally. As Ohio now operates, General Assembly districts were drawn by and for Republican­s. That means a state that twice voted for Bill Clinton and twice for Barack Obama has a legislatur­e that is overwhelmi­ngly Republican — and toils to make Ohio a backwater and sometimes a laughingst­ock.

In November, Ohioans will have the chance to ensure fairly drawn General Assembly districts by voting for the “Citizens Not Politician­s” ballot issue, proposed by petition, which would empower a Citizens Redistrict­ing Commission, that excludes politician­s, to draw fair legislativ­e and congressio­nal districts.