{"id":304,"date":"2022-04-29T19:50:33","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T19:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/fair-districts-and-equal-districts-rally-for-fair-maps-and-fair-elections\/"},"modified":"2022-04-29T19:50:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T19:50:33","slug":"fair-districts-and-equal-districts-rally-for-fair-maps-and-fair-elections","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/fair-districts-and-equal-districts-rally-for-fair-maps-and-fair-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Fair Districts and Equal Districts Rally for Fair Maps and Fair Elections"},"template":"","class_list":["post-304","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":null,"article_type":153,"authors":null,"related_issues":[62,420],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"\"\"\r\n\r\nWow, what a rally! Fantastic crowd, amazing speakers, great signs and songs, folks from all over Ohio, and Fair Districts and Equal Districts pulling together. We got a lot of press coverage and sent an unequivocal message to the Ohio Redistricting Commission: <\/span>Ohioans want fair maps and fair elections! Get to work! Do your job! Obey the law!<\/b>\r\n\r\nWe also delivered to them our \u201c<\/span>Ohio wants Fair Maps<\/b>\u201d sign on statement and the list of about 3,000 folks who had signed! We are continuing to add signatures, so if you haven\u2019t signed on yet, <\/span>click here<\/span><\/a> to add your name and say why you support Fair Maps! (If you had trouble signing before without a Google account, we think we fixed the issue so give it another try, or email us.)<\/span>\r\n\r\nIf you weren\u2019t able to attend, please check out these <\/span>photo albums<\/b>, one from <\/span>Paul Becker<\/span><\/a>, the other from <\/span>Ralph Orr<\/span><\/a>. Tiffany Rumbalski and Catherine Turcer took some <\/span>great photos<\/span><\/a> too! You can also watch a livestream recording <\/span>HERE<\/span><\/a>. AND, please enjoy the following clips of rally speakers:<\/span>\r\n\r\nLibby Hostetler of Allen County<\/a>:\u00a0<\/b>\u201cAs a lifetime voter in Allen County\u2013who unfortunately at this point, voted for home boys Huffman and Cupp\u2013 I\u2019ve seen enough. I\u2019ve seen enough bullying and forcing commission colleagues to march to their drummer even if it\u2019s breaking the law. I\u2019ve seen enough of delaying tactics,\u201d said Libby Hostetler of Allen County.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nRev. Dr.\u00a0 Jack Sullivan, Jr of the Ohio Council of Churches<\/a>:\u00a0<\/b>\u201cWe love Ohio. Ohio is our home. We will not be muted. We are not going away,\u201d said Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr.\u00a0 \u201cCommission members, we see you\u2026 Produce maps that are consistent with the Constitution and the will of the people.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nDeacon Nick Bates of the Hunger Network in Ohio<\/a>:\u00a0<\/b>\u201cWe want every voice to matter and every vote to count. The problem is when you gerrymander districts, you can create districts that are safe for one party or one specific politician to win, said Deacon Nick Bates. \u201cAnd then those politicians are more loyal to the mapmakers and those people who are funding those mapmakers than are to the people in their communities.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nRev. Derrick Holmes of the Amos Project<\/a>:\u00a0<\/b><\/b>\u201cPass fair maps in order to serve and represent people in the way they deserve to be served and represented. Pass fair maps because the current maps are unconstitutional and immoral. Pass fair maps because another day we wait is another day too long. Pass fair maps now,\u201d said Rev. Derrick Holmes.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nGreg Moore of the Promise of Democracy Foundation, the Ohio Voter Fund, and co-chair of the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission<\/a> talk about struggle to get rules prohibiting gerrymandering in the Ohio Constitution and to establish fair districts:\u00a0<\/b>\u201cSome of us have been working on this for years and some of us have been working on it for decades so we\u2019re not going to quit,\u201d said Greg Moore of the Ohio Voter Fund and the Promise of Democracy Foundation.. \u201cI would say this: I think we are going to win the fight. It\u2019s going to take a little more time, but eventually, we are going to win this fight. And it\u2019s going to be the people of Ohio who should be celebrated and thanked for preserving and not giving up.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAfter our rally, many attended the <\/span>redistricting public forum<\/b> held by Commission Co-Chair Sykes and Leader Russo. Rally participants offered powerful and moving testimony about the need for fair maps. You can view about an hour of the event <\/span>HERE<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nSince the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the fourth set of General Assembly maps on April 14 the Democrats on the Redistricting Commission have been asking to meet. After two weeks of silence and delay, finally <\/span>a meeting was held on Wednesday, May 4<\/b>\u2014just two days before the Court\u2019s deadline for new maps. Nothing significant occurred at that meeting to move us closer to a constitutionally compliant set of Ohio House and Senate maps. Later in the afternoon a meeting was set for Thursday, as follows:<\/span>\r\n\r\nOhio Redistricting Commission Hearing, 4:45pm, Thursday, May 5<\/b>\r\n\r\nPlease join us\u2014either in person or online:<\/span>\r\n