Ohio is a place where everyone’s voice matters. That is the heart and character of our state.

However, Ohio is also one of the most gerrymandered states in America.

From every corner of this amazing state, 535,005 Ohioans are on record saying this must end, and our voices matter: We want citizens, not politicians to decide who represents us in Columbus and Washington.

We are also heartened that our hometown paper, the Dispatch, has affirmed the people’s powerful and clarion voice in its editorial of Oct. 6.

One of us — Jeni — moved here as a kid from Peoria, entered Ohio State University as a fine arts major, left as an entrepreneur and slowly built an iconic national brand. Building a company requires more than talent and creativity; it is about genuinely ‘caring for the people in my company and community.’

That’s how we attract great talent — everyone’s voice matters in determining who we become.

But hyperpartisan gerrymandering in our statehouse sends a message to hundreds of thousands of other citizens across Ohio that their voices do not matter, echoing the words of one notable politician: ‘We can kind of do what we want.’

That is plain wrong.

One voice should not drown out 500,000 others.

We’re enormously proud to be working alongside our business leader colleagues — 80 of them from every corner of Ohio — who signed our open letter in support of Citizens Not Politicians and the Issue 1 constitutional ballot amendment. All this is to amplify the voices of 535,005 Ohioans who’ve said emphatically: Quit gerrymandering.

Business competitiveness has multiple dimensions: the cost of capital, taxes, regulations and workforce availability. But in the end — and we share this belief with hundreds of our fellow CEOs — it’s about the people we hire; they want to live in a place where they have a say in their future.

Trust is the foundation of competitiveness — and, indeed, of all human endeavors. If the people we hire lose trust in us, they leave their jobs, and worse yet, they leave Ohio, exacerbating our well-documented ‘brain drain,’ especially among young people.

Gerrymandering severely weakens public trust in the political system and makes our people feel they don’t count. Manipulating district boundaries for political gain erodes voter confidence and trust in government.

Conversely, creating fair, competitive districts will restore faith in our political system and ensure our representatives work for us, not their self-interest. 

And confirm that Ohio is a place where every voice matters.

But when our elected representatives thumb their noses at us and ‘do what they want,’ our fragile democracy in this state is tested, and we respond with uncommon determination.

No one puts it more directly than our former Republican Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, who is leading the campaign with strength and uncommon determination.

Apropos of the chief justice’s leadership, what is also ‘uncommon’ is the breadth of the grassroots organizations — from the League of Women Voters, ACLU and Common Cause to our friends in organized labor — joining hands with our fellow business leaders.

Together, we stand with 535,005 of our fellow Ohioans to return our democracy to the good people of this state — because in Ohio, every voice matters.

We hope you will use your voice and vote yes on Issue 1.

Read the original piece here.