DEAR EDITOR:

Voters know their communities best, so vote yes on Issue 1.

Recently, I read a Tribune Chronicle editorial urging valley voters to vote YES on Issue 1, and I agree. The editorial highlighted how, in terms of how our legislative districts are drawn, the interests of the Mahoning Valley have been “ignored in the name of political expediency” in recent years. Again, I agree.

You will hear from opponents that the passage of Issue 1 will eliminate “protections” designed to keep communities “together.” However, quite the opposite is true. We need look no further than the mathematical chance that currently prohibits drawing a common-sense state Senate district based in the Mahoning Valley — containing all or part of each Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Current redistricting law requires that any county with a population between that of one-third of a Senate district and a full Senate district be fully contained in just one senate district. Both Mahoning and Trumbull Counties fall into this category — Mahoning is 64% and Trumbull is 56% of a Senate district. Because it would require splitting one (or both) counties to create a senate district with the correct population, it is currently effectively forbidden to combine any portion of Mahoning County with any portion of Trumbull County in a Senate district.

After we vote YES on Issue 1, there will no longer be such mathematically arbitrary limitations on the creation of districts. Instead, mapmaking will focus on public input from everyday voters. If Mahoning Valley voters come out in droves to tell the new redistricting commission–made up of 5 Republicans, 5 Democrats, and 5 Independents, all everyday voters, not self-serving politicians–that Youngstown, Boardman, and Austintown, for example, should be in a state senate district with Warren, Niles, and Girard, the commission will have an obligation to draw a district that preserves those communities of interest.

ANDREW GREEN

Cuyahoga Falls