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Democratic Redistricting Working Group Members Respond to
Republican Gerrymandering Plan
State Rep. Jack Cera (D-Bellaire) and state Sen. Vernon
Sykes (D-Akron), the two Democratic designees on the Ohio
legislature’s redistricting working group, issued the
following statement in response to last week’s Republican
congressional gerrymandering presentation to House and
Senate committees:
“We are committed to achieving real reform and want to make
sure that our state’s congressional districts are fair and
truly representative of Ohioans. We want any congressional
redistricting plan to end partisan gerrymandering.
“Unfortunately, the plan that Senator Huffman and
Representative Schuring presented today doesn’t achieve
that. In fact, in some ways, it is worse than our current
system, as it eliminates the governor’s veto power and
removes the citizen referendum from the legislative process.
“Any plan that does not include strict criteria to prevent
gerrymandering or does not ensure bipartisanship weakens
representation in Ohio.
“We are willing to continue discussions in good faith and
hope a bipartisan plan that puts an end to gerrymandering is
still possible.”
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