Free Republic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in California and Ohio will decide next week whether to strip state politicians of the right to draw their own legislative district lines, the first public tests of a national effort to increase electoral competition and reduce the power of incumbency. The two ballot initiatives, California's Proposition 77 and Ohio's Issue 4, would transfer the power to set congressional and legislative boundaries to independent panels, robbing state lawmakers of their traditional ability to twist and shape district lines for political advantage. Similar initiatives are in the works in Florida and Massachusetts, and at least a dozen...

Schwarzenegger backs Ohio's Issue 4 reform initiatives A spokesman confirmed yesterday that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports Ohio's Issue 4, which would transfer the power to draw political boundaries from politicians to an independent commission if voters approve it Nov. 8. Opponents of Issue 4 have accused Reform Ohio Now of pushing the measure - and three others on the fall ballot - to benefit Democrats politically. Democrats have called Proposition 77 in California a power-grab for Republicans.

Separate ballot measures in California and Ohio to remove lawmakers from the drawing of legislative districts have been dogged by accusations that they are essentially partisan power grabs. Now Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, hopes to counter those claims by throwing his weight behind the Ohio measure, even though no prominent Republican elected official in that state has done so and many Republican lawmakers there are raising money to defeat it. ... A top supporter of the measures in both states said Mr. Schwarzenegger would participate in a series of public events this week to signal his stance. (snip) In...