Letters to the Editor: March 26

A second primary for Ohio is wasteful, confusing, and completely unnecessary. Surely the Ohio General Assembly can think of more productive ways to spend $25 million of Ohio taxpayer’s money! Draw fair maps, then hold one primary. Ohio voters deserve no less.

Holding two primaries will do nothing but confuse Ohio voters and undermine faith in our elections. First, draw fair maps, then hold a single primary when Boards of Elections, candidates and voters have had a chance to figure out the new districts.

The downside to pushing the primary back is minuscule in comparison to the cost and confusion of having two primaries instead of one. Please call or write your reps in the Statehouse.

- William N. Davis, II, Dayton

The current debacle of Ohio redistricting makes very clear why elected officials should not be tasked with drawing voting district maps. The conflict of interest is unavoidable.

For several weeks I have been watching the hearings, along with 100 others on the same Zoom link, and several things are obvious. Although pledging to follow the Ohio Constitution and the Ohio Supreme Court directions, the Republican majority spend most of the hearings tying themselves in knots trying to surreptitiously preserve the Republican supermajority. They can’t help themselves; they are politicians.

Speaker Cupp demonstrated the truth of my observation when he blurted out in a moment of frustration “but that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for some current incumbents to retain their seats.” Yes, Mr. Speaker, fair maps would likely lead to that outcome. That’s what the voters intended. The only way to be sure all incumbents can safely retain their seats is to use a gerrymandered map.

Competition is good for politics in the same way that it is good for business. Too much power results in abuses.

- Margaret Branstrator, Oxford

Because of the delays in adopting fair maps for Ohio’s General Assembly and Congressional districts, it is not possible to hold a complete primary on May 3. Now, unless the General Assembly delays the primary, Ohioans will pay an additional $25 million to have two primary elections. In addition to wasting money, having a double primary will cause confusion, reduce voter participation, and result in further distrust in elections. The rational solution is to draw and adopt fair maps, and then have one primary for all offices. Ohioans should call their elected officials and lobby for fair maps and a delayed primary.

- Anne Malone, Oakwood

To guard against the likelihood of an economic plunge from new money creation and debt creation, we should write to the Federal Reserve and Congress that we use the newly created money to discover how to make the economy more productive. Whether they are allowed to do this with the current new money, they can and should create more for such a purpose.

Something to do as well is to create five trillion dollars for the nation’s households and small businesses. Payment should be as high as the total of the past two years’ tax assessments, and in no case should an entity receive less than $50,000 (there should be 50% spent on debt, and 50% to be spent as the recipients wish.) Yes, there will be inflation, but it will be worth it.

- Raymond Collins, Dayton