State Issue 1 was explained to interested voters at a forum held Monday at the Wood County Senior Center.

Citizens Not Politicians is a coalition of people and organizations seeking to end gerrymandering in Ohio by removing politicians from the redistricting process and instead allowing Ohio citizens to draw fair and impartial legislative and congressional districts.

Issue 1 will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The amendment states that it will “ban partisan gerrymandering and prohibit the use of redistricting plans that favor one political party and disfavor others.”

“Issue 1 is important. The representatives are supposed to represent us,” said Lee McLaird, president of the League of Women Voters of Bowling Green. “Historically speaking, the gerrymandering practice has gone back and forth between each party on who’s been the most in control. When they are in control, it’s so tempting. If we can fix that problem before we even have candidates, then we can ensure that the candidates represent us. That’s the big thing here.”

On the ballot, Issue 1 will:

• Empower Ohio citizens to draw fair and impartial voting districts in an open and transparent process.
• Ban politicians and lobbyists, who have turned Ohio into one of the 10 most gerrymandered states in the country, from controlling the process.
• Make it illegal to manipulate voting districts in secret backroom deals designed to protect powerful incumbent politicians and favor political parties.
• End a broken system under which Ohio courts have ruled seven times that politicians crafted voting maps are unconstitutional.

“At this meeting, I learned that its such a complicated and important process. I’ve been involved with it for a while,” said league member Marcia Rybczynski. “It’s so hard to think about the times that we voted to have fair districts. The Ohio Supreme Court said the districts were unfair. We are trying so hard to have our voices recognized in the district that we live in.”

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