Supporters of a redistricting amendment to the Ohio constitution gathered together Thursday to hear more about the effort that would make Ohio citizens, instead of politicians, the decision makers when it comes to drawing state legislative and congressional districts.
A small crowd came together at a meeting held by We Are Ohio – which according to its Facebook page is a coalition of unions – at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 972 union hall and learned about Issue 1, also called the Citizens Not Politicians amendment, which will be decided by voters on the November general election ballot.
IBEW Local 972 Business Manager Mike Haught welcomed attendees and told them a yes vote for Issue 1 “bans gerrymandering (and) gives us fair districts, fair maps and fair elections,”
Haught introduced Ohio American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations Southeast Central Labor Council President Ted Linscott.
Linscott called the redistricting amendment a “game changer” for “working folks and labor in Ohio” because it gives citizens the power to draw maps instead of extremist politicians who gerrymander maps to protect their own interests.
Voting yes for Issue 1 will mean there will finally be competitive elections, Linscott said, and there will be true representation and elected officials who will respect the will of voters, instead of extremism.
“The best and brightest ideas will see the light of day,” he said.
Parkersburg Marietta Building and Construction Trades Council Business Manager Buddy Malone also spoke at the meeting. He urged the audience to vote yes on Issue 1 because “for too long Ohio’s been held back by gerrymandering” and this had led to consequences including divided communities, voices being silenced, elections being steeped in biases and more.
“Today we stand at a turning point,” Malone said. “Ohio Issue 1 offers a unique opportunity to correct these injustices and restore the integrity of Ohio districts.”
He said Issue 1 would draw districts based on geography and community interests not political advantages and the districts would “reflect the real diversity of communities.”
Mia Lewis, who is the associate director of Common Cause Ohio, a group that according to its website works to get reforms passed in Ohio to strengthen public participation in government and hold public officials accountable and make them responsive to citizens, also spoke during the meeting. She shared some of the details of the redistricting amendment.
Two Democrats and Two Republicans on the Ohio Ballot Board will choose a panel from a pool of retired judges, with the Republican Ballot Board members picking two Democrats and the Democratic Ballot Board members picking two Republicans, according to Lewis.
She said then the panel will choose a pool of people from which they will pick commission members and the process will be open for anyone to apply to be in the pool but lobbyists, politicians and party officials will be excluded.
The panel will whittle down the pool to 15 Democrats, 15 Republicans, 15 independents and then the panel will randomly pick six judges, two Democrat, two Republicans and two independents using a “lottery ball” method, according to Lewis.
She said these six people will be commission members and they will pick the other nine commission members “with an eye to demographic and geographic diversity.”
In order to approve decisions, the commission will need two votes each from members that are Democrats, Republicans and independents.
Lewis stressed that the commission would be a citizen commission, not one made up of politicians. She also pointed out the support the amendment has gotten from Ohioians, saying the amendment has support from Republicans, Democrats and independents and the petition created by the Citizens Not Politicians nonprofit received over 700,000 signatures.
She said the amendment would ban politicians and lobbyists from abusing the system and “would make it illegal to manipulate the drawing of voting districts to favor or disfavor any political party or individual politician.”
She asked the audience to help by spreading the word to vote yes on Issue 1 and said people have to vote yes for the amendment so the politicians who have repeatedly gerrymandered districts in Ohio can be kicked out.
“They’re drunk on power,” Lewis said of the gerrymandering politicians. “And you know what you do with drunks? You take away their keys and Issue 1 takes away their keys.”
Information on Issue 1 can be found at https://www.citizensnotpoliticians.org/.
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