COLUMBUS — Ohio Republicans reduced the power of African-American voters when it redrew the boundaries of a Cincinnati-area House district held by Democratic state Rep. Wayne Coates, according to an analysis by The Cincinnati Enquirer.

        The Ohio GOP-controlled apportionment board swapped 13,000 whites and 7,000 African-Americans of voting age for 20,000 whites and 3,900 African-Americans. That reduced the House district's minority voting-age population from 25.6 percent two years ago to 20.5 percent.

INFOGRAPHIC

• How former District 32 was changed into District 28

        Democrats said those numbers show the GOP didn't follow the Voting Rights Act when they set the 28th House District's boundaries.

        Republicans said that's the wrong way to look at the reshaping of the district.

        “There is no doubt that this district was made better for Republicans, but it's not at the expense of African-Americans,” said Scott Borgemenke, a GOP consultant who drew the district map now in use.

        The redistricting of what was the 32nd House District has become an issue since WCPO-TV (Channel 9) aired secretly taped statements of a top aide to Republican House Speaker Larry Householder.

        On the tape, the aide, Brett Buerck said African-American voters were moved out of the district to help GOP candidate Jim Raussen defeat Mr. Coates this November. Mr. Raussen lost to Mr. Coates in 2000 by 535 votes.

        “Because of the changes we've made in redistricting to help Jim, we essentially took 13,000 African-Americans out of the Raussen district and put 14,000 Republicans in,” Mr. Buerck said on the tape.

        Mr. Buerck has since said he was wrong on the facts. He said he was engaging in “political hyperbole” to scare Sharonville Republican Doug Mink out of running against Mr. Raussen in Tuesday's Republican primary. Mr. Mink stayed in the race.

        New election districts are drawn every 10 years to reflect the new census. Democrats contend in a federal lawsuit that the GOP-drawn map illegally dilutes African-Americans' voting power, and point to Mr. Buerck's statements as evidence.

        The Enquirer obtained Hamilton County precinct data from Cleveland State University, which created the demographic database Republicans and Democrats used to draw their maps.

        The data shows 13,261 whites and 7,150 African-Americans of voting age living in Mount Healthy, Cincinnati Ward 24 and parts of Springfield Township in 2000.

        Mr. Borgemenke said these precincts were placed into the district of Rep. Catherine Barrett, D-Cincinnati. He said Ms. Barrett's district was short of the required 22,000 voters after the 2000 Census.

        Voters in the deleted precincts cast 5,673 votes for Mr. Coates compared to 4,022 for Mr. Raussen in 2000.

        The apportionment board moved in 20,165 whites and 3,969 African-Americans of voting age living in Arlington Heights, Evendale, Lincoln Heights, Montgomery, Reading and different parts of Springfield Township.

        Those areas used to be represented by state Reps. Patricia Clancy, R-Colerain Township, and Michelle Schneider, R-Madeira.

        An examination of data from the 2000 general election shows Ms. Clancy and Ms. Schneider collected 9,919 votes compared to 5,475 cast for their Democratic opponents.

        Mr. Borgemenke said it was unfair to use 2000 Census data to show how Mr. Coates' old district was changed. He said the only fair comparison is to examine the demographics of the 32nd House district when it was created in 1991.

        The district's African-American voting age population stood at 20.76 percent in 1991, according to statistics supplied by Mr. Borgemenke. With the minority voting age percentage now at 20.5 percent, he said little has changed.

        “There was no packing or diluting in any district in Ohio,” Mr. Borgemenke said. “The numbers we used were intellectually and morally honest.”

        Sen. Leigh Herrington, D-Ravenna, the sole dissenter on the five-member apportionment board and a candidate for Ohio attorney general this November, said it's appropriate to consider the state of the district before it was changed.

        “There were 7,000 (African-American) voters moved out of that district, regardless of how many were put in,” he said.

        Mr. Herrington and House Minority Leader Dean DePiero, D-Parma, said Mr. Buerck's comments could help Democrats prove their case in court.

        “The numbers bear out that more African-Americans were taken out than put in,” Mr. DePiero said. “You couple that with a statement by the speaker's chief of staff that his intent was to do that and that raises serious questions of a Voting Rights Act violation.”

        Lawyers must show race was the predominant factor in drawing an election district to prove a violation. Though Mr. Buerck talks about African-Americans, a voting rights expert said a judge could interpret that as meaning Democratic votes versus Republican votes.

        Michael Binford, a political science professor at Georgia State University, said the ultimate judgment will depend on an analysis of how several districts were formed, not just one.

        “It may not be an instance of vote dilution,” he said. “It really depends on where they were moved to and how the surrounding districts changed.”

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