Vote may be today on House districts

Senate president says map could be amended with an appropriation.

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By William Hershey, Columbus Bureau 12:07 AM Wednesday, September 21, 2011

COLUMBUS — The Republican congressional map could still face a legal challenge, but the Ohio Senate may have found a way to avoid a voter referendum.

The Senate could vote today on a map creating 16 new U.S. House districts after inoculating the bill with an appropriation tag that would prevent a referendum.

Senate President Tom Niehaus, R-New Richmond, said Tuesday that he anticipates no changes in the map as passed last week by the Republican-controlled House, and he rejected concerns by the Dayton Unit of the NAACP that the map might violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The group has threatened legal action over the map because it splits Montgomery County’s black voters between two districts.

“From the beginning, our focus was on creating lines that were constitutional, that met the requirements of the Voting Rights Act,” Niehaus said. “That’s what we tried to do.”

Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern said Democrats are also talking with lawyers and weighing their options, including seeking a referendum or challenging the map in the courts.

According to an analysis for the Ohio Campaign for Accountable Redistricting, the map creates 12 districts favoring Republicans and four favoring Democrats. Only two would be competitive.

Some local Republicans are unhappy because the map would put U.S. Reps. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, and Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, in the same district.

Niehaus said the threat of a referendum has created uncertainty, and that amending the bill with an appropriation is possible. With an appropriation, the bill would take effect immediately upon Gov. John Kasich’s signature and would not be subject to a referendum.

Ohio’s U.S. House delegation is shrinking from 18 to 16 because of slow population growth.

Contact this reporter at (614) 224-1608 or whershey@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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