Drawing conclusions: Contest shows imagined congressional districts

LIMA - Imagine a 4th Congressional District that doesn't snake across half the state.

Three winners did in a redistricting contest, held to show that compact, fair and competitive districts can be drawn.

The Ohio Secretary of State's Office hosted the Ohio Redistricting Competition put on by a partnership of groups and people including the League of Women Voters of Ohio, Ohio Citizen Action and Common Cause Ohio.

"Even though I have worked on these concepts for years, I am amazed at how well they work in actual practice," said one of the organizers, former state Rep. Joan Lawrence, a Republican. "The competition has demonstrated that our districting system can be far fairer for voters and candidates."

In two of the three winning plans, the 4th District would not include Champaign County, home to current U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana. All three plans include Wood County, home to U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-Bowling Green, who represents the 5th District.

Fourteen people submitted plans. Three were disqualified because they didn't meet minimum threshold requirements. Three were deemed winning plans based on their scores for certain criteria:

• Compactness: How a district looks, minimizing bizarre shapes

• Communities of interest: Minimizing dividing counties

• Competitiveness: Maximizing the number of districts that could be won by either party

• Representational fairness: A final plan without bias for one party over another.

How does Allen County fare in the imagined winning districts?

Tim Clark, of Avon, places Allen County at the western edge of a district comprised of Allen, Auglaize, Shelby, Champaign, Logan, Marion, Hardin, Wyandot, Hancock, Henry and Wood counties.

Stuart Wright, of Columbus, places Allen County in the center of a district comprised of Allen, Auglaize, Mercer, Van Wert, Paulding, Defiance, Williams, Putnam, Wood, Hancock and Hardin counties.

Mike Fortner, an Illinois state representative, places Allen County in the center of a U-shaped district comprised of Allen, the bottom edge of Putnam County, Hancock, Wood, Wyandot, Hardin, Logan, Shelby, Darke, Mercer, Van Wert and Auglaize counties.

The contest showed how badly the state is configured: the worst-scoring plan submitted was quantitatively fairer than the 2001 redistricting, organizers said.

While the contest was only a contest, state officials will redraw districts for real in 2011.

The Legislature determines congressional districts based on updated census information.

The Reapportionment Board comprises the governor, auditor, secretary of state, person from the House speaker's party and person representing the minority party and sets the General Assembly boundaries.

The statewide races next year are that much more important, because under the current law, they will determine the makeup of the board that sets the districts.