COLUMBUS — Who said reapportionment couldn't be fun?

        Ohioans will get a crack at redrawing the boundary lines of the new election districts for the Ohio General Assembly and Congress with help from a new state interactive apportionment Web site.

        The site, www.ohioremap2001.org, was unveiled Thursday and promises to provide the same tools state officials will use to draw precincts, including free mapping software, census data and election results by precinct.

        “This is the most open, most accessible and fairest reapportionment process in the history of the state,” said Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell.

        Users can submit their maps before Sept. 24 for consideration by the Ohio Apportionment Board, which will decide how the state's new precincts will be drawn at the beginning of October. Reapportionment is done every 10 years to reflect population changes shown in the Census.

        All mapping software and data is available online. But beware: Even high-speed Internet connections will take about two hours to download the package from the site.

        For those with dial-up connections, the state suggests ordering its free CD-ROM, which contains the same information, by filling out the site's online order form.

        Also, regional remapping locations will be set up soon across the state.

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