Gerrymandering/Redistricting

Today, Fair Districts Ohio announced the launch of the 2021 Ohio Congressional Mapping Competition and the members of the twelve-person Advisory Committee who will be responsible for choosing winners from among the submitted maps. 

When redistricting is fair, transparent, and includes everyone, our maps are more likely to be representative and secure free, fair, and responsive elections for the next decade. That is why we are advocating for a process that prioritizes opportunities for meaningful public input, public access to the redistricting data used by mapmakers in Ohio, and a mapmaking process conducted openly rather than behind closed doors.

Common Cause Ohio's 2019 Summer Intern Kanyinsola Oye took on an independent project all about the connection between gerrymandering and real-life problems in the local community. Through interviews with community leaders, she found a way to take the abstract political term and the show how the hurt it causes is real. In this presentation she shows how her project worked, and sets out steps for others to take similar action. She also discusses the Pledge to End Gerrymandering and shows how all Ohioans can step up to stand for #FairDistricts.

“We have a very good understanding of the manipulation of district lines. There are very real consequences to rigging elections.” says Catherine Turcer, executive director for Common Cause Ohio,

“Ohioans never gave up on the fight to end the manipulation of congressional districts for political advantage and today our efforts paid off,” said Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio.