Ohio voted against an independent redistricting commission. How did Michigan create one?

By Anneliese White/Kent State NewsLab

This November, Ohio’s Issue 1 — which aimed to end gerrymandering in Ohio by creating a 15-member citizen commission to draw new district lines — failed, with 53.8% of votes opposing the issue.

However, yard signs from both sides claimed to want to end gerrymandering.

Sherry Rose, development director for the League of Women Voters of Ohio, believes that’s still what Ohio voters want.

“At the end of the day, it really is unfortunate because [Ohioans’ voices are] not heard,” Rose said.

How independent redistricting commissions work elsewhere

Only four states have an independent redistricting commission, and one of them is Ohio’s northern neighbor, Michigan. 

Graphic: Anneliese White.

The proposal that created the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission was passed in 2018. While each independent redistricting commission is different, Michigan’s has proved to be successful, possibly guiding Ohio to its own independent redistricting success. 

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is made up of 13 commissioners. This includes four commissioners from the Democratic Party, four commissioners from the Republican Party and five commissioners who identify as independents. 

Ohio’s proposed commission would have included 15 citizens, including five Democrats, five Republicans and five independents.

Michigan’s commissioners are chosen by random selection from a pool of residents who apply to serve on the commission. An independent third-party public accounting firm called Rehmann LLC uses a computer program to perform the choosing of the initial 200 applicants

The requirements specify that 60 applicants need to be Democrats, 60 applicants need to be Republicans and 80 applicants need to not be affiliated to either party. Rehman LLC uses statistical weighting to ensure proper Census proportions when performing the random draw, and the applicants need to match the geographic and demographic makeup of Michigan.

Stephen Blann, chief operating officer of Rehmann LLC, said the initial selection of commissioners took under 30 minutes.

After the 200 applicants were randomly chosen, Michigan legislators were allowed to remove 20 applicants from the pool.

“As you might expect, Democrats mostly struck Republicans, [and] Republicans mostly struck Democrats,” Blann said. Some applicants who identified as independents were struck in the process, he said.

Then, the 13 commissioners were randomly selected from the remaining 180 viable applicants.

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission now put their virtual meeting time and dates on their website. They also share their meetings on their Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The impact on Michigan

Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson, a professor of political science at Wayne State University in Detroit, said Michigan exhibited signs of a gerrymandered state before the constitutional amendment of 2018.

“Democratic candidates won more votes, but they were divided up in districts so they could never get control of the legislature,” Sarbaugh-Thompson said.

Congressional districts have become much more competitive since the commission began drawing districts, Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission independent commissioner Anthony Eid said.

“We have 13 congressional districts, and five of those are considered competitive, three of which are considered ultra-competitive, some of the most competitive seats in the country,” Eid said.

The election results show the proof, as well. According to Eid, the legislature seats shifted accordingly and accurately to the way Michiganders voted.

In 2018, Michigan’s state House of Representatives voting results ended with about 52% of total votes going toward the Democratic Party, yet the Democratic Party still ended up in the minority. 

The 2022 election used the districts drawn by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission for the first time, and also for the first time since 2008, Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives.

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission has also had maps ruled as unconstitutional. Critics said that one of the proposed 2024 maps deeply affected Black people living in Detroit, and weakened their voting power by expanding Black-majority districts into the nearby White-majority districts.

“I think what we’ve shown is that even though we have had some road bumps, independent redistricting commissions that are independent of state legislators work,” Eid said.

What’s next for Ohio?

Sarbaugh-Thompson believes a ballot initiative like Ohio’s Issue 1 would have a better chance of passing on a midterm election ballot, rather than a presidential election ballot.

“It is a little bit easier,” the League of Women Voters’ Rose agreed, since “you don’t have as many voters in off-year elections.”

Rose said local issues like park levies have an easier time getting passed during midterms because it is easier to get their supporters to the polls. That’s how Michigan’s proposal for an independent redistricting commission got passed.

Rose also believes Issue 1 “would have passed overwhelmingly” had it not been for lengthy, confusing language on voters’ ballots.

“In theory, yes, it would be [easier to pass Issue 1 during a midterm election], if we knew that we would have a fair shake at the ballot language,” Rose said.

This story was originally published by the Kent State NewsLab, a collaborative news outlet publishing journalism by Kent State students.

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