Ohio's Issue 2 - Vote NO

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They are at it again!!

Issue 2, in my opinion, is riddled with non-elected officials and opportunity for corruption and fraud. Here is how it will appear on your ballot;


The proposed amendment would:
1. Remove the authority of elected representatives and grant new authority to appointed officials to establish congressional and state legislative district lines.
2. Create a state funded commission of appointed officials from a limited pool of applicants to replace the aforementioned. The Commission will consist of 12 members as follows: four affiliated with the largest political party, four affiliated with the second largest political party and four not affiliated with either of the two largest political parties. Affirmative votes of 7 of 12 members are needed to select a plan.
3. Require new legislative and congressional districts be immediately established by the Commission to replace the most recent districts adopted by elected representatives, which districts shall not be challenged except by court order until the next federal decennial census and apportionment. In the event the Commission is not able to determine a plan by October 1, the Ohio Supreme Court would need to adopt a plan from all the plans submitted to the Commission.
4. Change the standards and requirements in the Constitution for drawing legislative and congressional districts.
5. Mandate the General Assembly to appropriate all funds as determined by the Commission including, but not be limited to, compensating:
1. Staff
2. Consultants
3. Legal counsel
4. Commission members
If approved, the amendment will be effective thirty days after the election.
Shall the amendment be approved?

Again, they want to APPOINT this group, pay them with your tax dollars, take the decisions away from the elected officials and WE, the People, have no recourse or appeal process should we not like their decisions. This is not government OF the People, BY the People, FOR the People.

The following is an article from the Columbus Dispatch of 10/08/2012; “New way to draw Ohio political maps on fall ballot”;

“This is a very simple plan. It ends the corrupt system we have today that lets politicians design their own districts,” said Sandy Theis, a spokeswoman for the labor-backed coalition. “It will take that power away from them and give it to an independent citizens’ commission that would have to do all its business in public.”

The first nine members of the commission would be selected by lottery from 42 applicants placed into Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated pools by a panel of appeals court judges. The first nine members selected would pick the other three.

Protect Your Vote Ohio, the opposition campaign, says the lengthy constitutional amendment is rife with risky unknowns. It closely resembles a commission that California voters approved in 2010.

“While you have a process (in Ohio) now that’s accountable to taxpayers because it’s conducted by elected officials, voters would have no recourse in terms of holding these commissioners accountable or for repealing their decisions,” said spokesman Carlo LoParo.

Opponents believe unaffiliated commissioners would be particularly susceptible to political pressure at map-drawing time. The Ohio State Bar Association and Ohio Judicial Conference oppose the issue out of concern that appellate judges also would be vulnerable to political pressure.

Theis said the concern is misplaced.

“There have been dozens of the state’s top legal and constitutional scholars who signed an open letter that explained that OSBA’s concerns are totally misguided,” she said. “They’ve done a great disservice because they’ve entered the political arena and peddled inaccurate information.”

The feud between the two sides has carried over to the Ohio Elections Commission and the state Ballot Board, pitting its largely Democratic backers against largely Republican opponents. Republicans have drawn Ohio’s U.S. House maps for 20 years, and its legislative maps for 30.

Opponents include the Ohio Republican Party, Ohio Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Right to Life and state associations of CPAs, retail merchants, and farmers. Supporters include the League of Women Voters, NAACP, ProgressOhio, Ohio Citizen Action, Planned Parenthood and the Ohio Council of Churches.

I must step away from the League of Women Voters and others on this one. Creating another non-elected commission, committee, agency or forum is a disservice to the voters of Ohio. This commission leaves us no recourse or appeal process and is a total NO vote on my part.
If you don’t think you are over taxed and under represented; you must be, at least, asking why we need so many commissions, made up of non-elected officials. 

This content provided courtesy of Politics are Personal. Contact the author at PoliticsArePersonal (AT) Gmail (DOT) Com