Redistricting reform could allow Ohioans' votes to count once more

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5:09 PM Monday, February 15, 2010

The Dayton Daily News has pushed for the reform of a system that keeps your vote from mattering in races for U.S. Congress, the Ohio House and Ohio Senate. Oh, your vote gets counted; it simply doesn’t have much effect, because the party that draws your district determines who wins these races. Nice system!

Guess who doesn’t want to change it? Whoever is in power. But it’s tricky, because power fluctuates, and it’s awful when your party is out of power and has to wait for a historic, grand sweep of an election to get the upper hand.

I know; I’m a Democrat, and my party currently is in a position to decide how they’d like to draw these districts following the 2010 Census. We lived nearly two decades without being able to affect much in Columbus, and now that we have the chance, we’re holding on tightly to a system that kept us on the backbench. It’s a mistake that may be understandable, but is wrongheaded nonetheless.

Democrats should be reaching across the aisle now to develop a system that gives both dominant parties a fair chance at getting candidates elected.

If you’d like a greater say in who goes to Congress or Columbus, then speak up. Write a letter, as I have. Maybe we can change a system designed to “stick it” to the competing party. And bring equal opportunity to our electoral process.

Connie Crockett

Yellow Springs

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