Wacky in size and shape, drawn every ten years.  There's even a term for it.

"You remember 8th grade social studies?  Remember gerrymandering?  That's the best way to describe it to citizens," said Catherine Turcer with Ohio Citizen Action.

Turcer wants to see Ohio eliminate gerrymandering once and for all.  She supports a new bill that would create a fair way to draw legislative lines.

"The problem is you can't ever really take the politics out of things," Turcer said.  "You might as well just own it and be practical and say, 'okay, what we want to do is create criteria that is sensible.'"

Part of the criteria ends one-party control over the process.

"It's absolutely clear that the party that did the gerrymandering the last time around is benefiting by being over represented," said Dr. Richard Gunther, political science professor from The Ohio State University.

Gunther points to the last reapportionment in 2001.  At that time Republicans drew the lines, and the Democratic gains in 2006 and 2008 meant little.

"A state like Ohio that had voted in favor of Democratic candidates in the last couple elections is completely dominated by Republicans as a direct result in how these district boundaries have been stacked," Gunther added.

Democratic state Representative Tom Letson says the current apportionment board is too partisan.

"Bargaining in a backroom and only having three people agree on how things should be drawn is a bad idea," Letson said.

The Ohio League of Women Voters agrees.

"In order for us to be represented fairly and for our views to be enacted into statues, we need legislators and representatives that will share our values," said Ann Henkener with the Ohio League of Women Voters.

Henkener points out that Republican state Senator Jon Husted has introduced a similar reform bill in the senate. 

The League supports that bill.

"I think the voters will understand this is a good deal if we can get both to agree," Henkener added.

If Republicans and Democrats agree to the reapportionment reform plan, Ohio lawmakers would end a practice that started back in 1812.  That's when a political cartoon, mocking Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, gave us the infamous phrase:  Gerrymandering.

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