A State Electoral College

Why Ohio would Benefit from a State Electoral College

How were we able to predict that exactly 36 members of Ohio’s State Central Committee would endorse Mike DeWine for Governor even though he only has support of 40% of Republicans? Simple! The system is corrupt and predictable. Special interests rule the Ohio Republican Party - not registered Republicans. Read on to learn more……..

Isn’t it time to put political stupidity aside in fighting each other and start fighting for policies that move the State of Ohio forward?

Democrats and Republicans alike can agree that gerrymandering and the party-in-charge that redraws the districts, do so in their best interests and not necessarily in the best interests of the people. The reason why WEIGHTED VOTING COUNTY DISTRICTS are so popular with Ohioans is because it takes out the subjectivity and political wrangling and gives the people consistent and familiar districts. The more Ohioans hear about weighted voting the more they like it.

Weighted voting and an Ohio State Electoral College for Statewide offices would work in much the same way. Each county would be guaranteed at least 1 vote and a vote for every 100,000 residents beyond the first 100,000 residents. A county that has 12,000 residents would have the same voting power as a county that has 199,999 residents. A county with 200,000 residents would cast 2 votes. A county with 300,000 residents would cast 3 votes and so on and so on.

Weighted voting has many benefits - some of which are not immediately obvious. Just as the federal electoral college mutes the influence of population as the sole determiner of political dominance - so too would a state electoral college. This would be by an arbitrary number (100,000 residents) and by the county boundaries. Every county would be a winner take all county and each county would cast a weighted vote according to the map above.

In regards to the Ohio House and Senate in the General Assembly. Democrats would pick up seats in the new Ohio House that would have 88 members (1 for each county) and Republicans would pick up members in the new Senate which has 44 senators (1 for every 2 counties). The Lt. Governor would be the tiebreaker in either chamber.

WHY WOULD DEMOCRATS (LARGE URBAN COUNTIES) AGREE TO THIS?

• Large cities would not be broken up into many districts - most would be fully contained to one county district.

• Less representatives with more voting power means less political races - this means it would be easier for democrats to maintain the power they have and be more competitive is Statewide races.

• Compact districts mean that people with more similarities with ties to geographic areas will be grouped together.

• Easier for residents to know who their representatives are and have no changing district boundaries.

WHY WOULD REPUBLICAN (RURAL COUNTIES) AGREE TO THIS?

• Weighted voting and a state electoral college reduces the influence of population on elections and increases the influence of established geographic areas (Counties) that people are tied to and are familiar with.

• In equal population districts - as a population of a major city decreases - the district expands and allows liberal policies to expand outside the borders of a city and county. There is actually an incentive for urban districts to lose population to expand their territory. This is exactly what is happening in Ohio and the reason why large cities do not adopt better policies and lower taxes. In a weighted voting scenario, districts never expand and there is only an incentive to grow the district - this means approving policies that make the city more attractive to businesses. This would equate to more uniform policy between political parties.

• Better planning and predictability with districts remaining the same and more people can potentially become involved with the simplification of the districts due to familiarity.

Ohio could greatly benefit from a State Electoral College just as they would from weighted voting for House and Senate districts to eliminate gerrymandering - based upon the same principles.

While our federal chambers (House and Senate) are split (the House is by population and the Senate is by sovereign territory) our state General Assembly is not split - both chambers are based upon equal population districts. Splitting the districts aligns our state government closer to the federal system as would a state electoral college.

CASTING OF ELECTORAL BALLOTS

A State Electoral College would not have delegates like the federal electoral college. Instead, when an election is certified the ballots would be automatically cast in a winner take all electoral votes as referenced in the map. This makes it more important than ever that Statewide officers campaign in all 88 counties and not just the most populous counties. Reducing the influence of population on our elections makes every county important. Ideally, this will allow for a better redistribution of wealth. 53% of Ohioans live outside of metropolitan (urban) districts. Yet, metropolitan areas receive a disproportionate amount of Ohio taxpayer money (about 66%). It is very doubtful that metropolitan districts would benefit so greatly if their influence is diminished.

THE STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE REPRESENT THE SPECIAL INTERESTS AND NOT REPUBLICANS

Currently, the State Central Committee and County Central Committees are autonomous organizations - they have no obligation to answer to each other. The State party if connected to the county organizations would be more accountable than the bribes and trickery that happens now.

What happens now is:

Ohio’s special interests determine a pet candidate that will do their bidding

The candidate is one that is reasonable and pliable - or just completely inept

The State Central Committee (SCC) is composed of thirty-three men and thirty-three women who are popularly elected from Ohio's thirty-three Senate districts. Though they represent Republicans, most people don't know about these races or the candidates because their general election is during the primary (when few Republicans or Democrats vote) . These SCC seats are usually easy to win if the Special Interests have not targeted them. To control Ohio, Special Interests need only control 34 SCC votes to get their candidate endorsed for a Governor's race.

BRIBING SCC MEMBERS No money has to pass through a gubernatorial candidate's hands in order to bribe SCC members. "I will endorse you for SCC if you will vote to endorse me for Governor; and if I win, I will make you a political appointee for a cushy, well-paying State job."This is routine. It is also routine for SCC candidates to receive endorsements from Statewide officers (Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Auditor, Lt. Governor). Just because it is tradition to accept bribes doesn't make it right. Bribes are wrong.However, the Ohio Ethics Commission has determined that those serving concurrently on the SCC and also as a political appointee are not subject to Ohio's ethics laws.

SCC MEMBERS STILL NEED TO WIN ELECTION State Central Committee races are some of the cheapest races to win and winning a seat grants the most influence in Ohio. Guess what? By Ohio law a SCC candidate does not require any financial disclosures and they can accept an unlimited amount of money from anyone. This allows Special Interests to secretly funnel dark money toward SCC candidates that will in turn support their candidate. SCC candidates, thusly funded, may also take a turn in promise making to County Central Committee members/chairs to garner County Party endorsements for themselves. Keep in mind that if Vladimir Putin or Xi Jing Ping wanted to take over Ohio politics - they could very easily and legally write massive checks to State Central Committee members. Isn't that a scary thought?

THE STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE Currently there are 28 members of the Ohio Republican State Central Committee that are also appointees of State Officers. There are 8 members who are directly influenced by Special Interest lawyers and lobbyists. These 36 members combine to control the Ohio Republican Party and Ohio Politics. Because 1)Ohio ethics laws have been deemed to not apply and 2)there are no laws that prevent appointees and lobbyists from serving on the State Central Committee - Special Interests rule Ohio instead of the people.

LET’S FIX THE PROBLEM

First, let’s realign the structure of the party. The chairman of each county party should be the representative on the State Central Committee - reducing the need for a separate election for these races (saving time, money, and confusion). Each County representative would have a weighted vote just as above. This expands the State Central Committee to 88 members that are locally elected.

Simpler and easier is to just send the chairmen of each County Central Committee to the State to compose the State Central Committee.

NEXT

We should change Ohio law to make State and County Central Committee members accountable to Ohio’s ethics laws which require recusal for a conflict of interests or improper influence. Outlawing political appointees and lobbyists on the State Central Committee and on County Central Committees should be strongly considered.

NEXT

We should change Ohio Law to make State and County Central Committee candidates subject to campaign finance law disclosures - so we know who is influencing our political representatives.

NEXT

We should change Ohio law to require that all votes by political representatives on State and County Central Committees are roll call votes and are made public. If they are our political representatives by law - then we have a right to know how they vote no different than what Ohio legislators and Senators have to disclose when voting in session.

NEXT

We should change Ohio law to require a State Convention for political parties that is composed of every county central committee member that has the power to be a check on the state central committee if special interests ever take it (the State Central Committee) over again. The convention should have he power to draft or amend the bylaws of the State Central Committee, draft the mission, vision, and platform for the party, and hire or fire the political director of the Ohio Republican Party.

SIMPLIFICATION AND STREAMLINING

When we reduce the complexity of our political system it makes it easier for residents of Ohio to participate. When we have common sense and straight-forward laws that ensure transparency - more people will participate and be passionate about their political parties because they can be assured that if monkey business abounds that people can be arrested and face severe penalties for trying to manipulate the will of the people. As it stands now there is no penalties for idiots behaving badly that are wrecking Ohio.