A wakeup call for officials whose blatant Ohio gerrymander snubbed voters

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I was happy to see the recent Supreme Court gerrymandering decision on state legislative maps (”Setting boundaries,” Jan. 13). The majority opinion was a clear and convincing report describing a broken state government.

One insight that has not received much attention is that representative government, both state and national, has many supermajority rules that rely on a legislature with partisan proportions that roughly match those of the electorate. Rules that override vetos or invoke cloture make sense when only substantial opposition can block government action, or when only overwhelming majorities can enact controversial laws.

In a Statehouse organized along party lines, party percentages should mirror those of voters. The arrogance with which less than a half-dozen men ignored the sweeping consensus of Ohioans should shock everyone’s conscience. Ohioans everywhere believed that redistricting should be an open, transparent process.

Recent events are the consequence of gerrymandering ten years ago. Our current districts produced officials so secure that they felt completely free to ignore the clear intent of the people, an intent written into our Ohio Constitution.

It is my hope that this decision is, for them, a moment of conversion, a moment when they decide to begin doing the right thing.

Peter Petto,

Bay Village

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