Fair Districts September All Volunteer Huddle Follow Up

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for this month’s Fair Districts Huddle. We had a fast-paced meeting to catch everyone up both on the current maps and the Ohio Redistricting Commission meeting AND on the plans for the next round of redistricting reform. 

Click here for the recording and click here for the slides. 

More than a year after being ordered to draw new legislative maps, the Ohio Redistricting Commission finally reconvened yesterday, only to gavel out immediately after swearing in. They accomplished literally nothing because majority Ohio House and Senate leaders are jostling over who the co-chairs of the Commission should be. Another meeting is scheduled for Friday, September 15 at 8 am, but it may be canceled if the arm wrestling over leadership continues. Updates will be available at redistricting.ohio.gov. 

• Click here for some photos from our Solidarity Walk for Fair Maps.
• Click here for some Ohio House and Senate maps created by citizens and those crafted by the independent mapmakers. 

Here are a few articles about the Ohio Redistricting Commission: 

• Meeting of Ohio map-drawing panel goes nowhere as members can’t select co-chairs, Ohio Public Radio, September 13, 2023
• GOP infighting stalls work of Ohio Redistricting Commission as election deadline looms, Cincinnati Enquirer, September 13, 2023 

Yesterday’s pathetic performance by the current Ohio Redistricting Commission did serve one important purpose: it re-emphasized the importance of removing politicians completely from the redistricting process. We spent most of the Huddle last night going over the top lines of the exciting and thoughtful Citizens Not Politicians policy that would create a Citizens Redistricting Commission for Ohio. You can read the language of the petition for yourself HERE. 

Over the past year, we have learned a lot about citizens redistricting commissions during our Huddle meetings. Here are the recordings of interviews with:

• Anthony Eid, Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission 
• Amanda Gonzalez, Jefferson County Clerk & Recorder, and Jessika Shipley, Staff Director for both the Congressional and Legislative Independent Redistricting Commissions in Colorado in 2020 and 2021
• Patricia Sinay, California Citizens Redistricting Commission 
• Campaign Legal Center’s Simone Leeper, Mark Gaber, and Aseem Mulji 
• Prof. David Niven, University of Cincinnati 

We are just beginning the citizen initiative process. It’s a long road, but, with your help and the help of every Ohioan who cares about fair elections and a functional democracy, we will achieve fair maps and fair elections for Ohio!

You are invited to join us for: 

• A Policy Deep Dive with former Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor on September 28 at noon. 
• A Petition Circulation Training on October 17 at 6 pm. 
• A Petition Circulation Training on October 26 at noon. 

Here are a few articles about Citizens Not Politicians:

• Editorial: Let citizens redistrict, Toledo Blade, August 23, 2023
• Former chief justice: redistricting was ‘doomed to fail.’ Ohio needs new way to draw maps, Statehouse News Bureau, August 17, 2023
• Misrepresentative lawmaking will continue in Ohio until voters have fair maps, Ohio Capital Journal, August 16, 2023.

Please stay tuned for updates from Fair Districts and all our partner organizations.