Ohio’s U. S. House of Representives seats are required by law to be redistricted after the 2020 census. We need to make sure that we do not end up having the disaster that happened after the 2010 redistricting.
We ended up with 16 safe seats with very little competition in the primaries and very little competition in the general election. Essentially, the incumbents were elected for life or however long they wanted to serve. Why bother to vote!
With little or no competition, there were very few town meetings where the voters could question the incumbents as to their views. The incumbents often scheduled meetings with politically friendly audiences. That’s like preaching to the choir!
What we have now in Ohio is not good for a democracy. We need more, not less, citizens involved in the political process. Democracy is in decline in the world. Let us not let this happen in the United States.
Plans for the 2020 redistricting has too many politicians involved with the process. That is not a good. We need to have a non-partisan commission, excluding everyone who has or had held a state or federal office or political position. Politicians are always looking for political advantage! What we want is not what is good for a Democrat or Republican parties, but what is good for the State of Ohio and the United States of America!
The 2020 redistricting commission should make all congressional seats as competitive as possible.
Political parties have too much control.
Tom Braun, New Bremen
