(Photo by Megan Varner/Getty Images)
The heads of prominent civil rights and anti-discrimination groups, along with faith-based groups, have joined a list of supporters of Ohio Issue 1, which would reform the redistricting process by replacing politicians with citizen commissioners.
The Ohio Organizing Collaborative released an open letter signed by more than 60 “Black faith leaders” of churches and religious groups from across the state, saying the leaders felt “compelled to address the urgent and pressing need for citizen-led initiatives to reclaim our democratic processes from the grip of partisan politics.”
“A fair redistricting process will restore our right to representation of Black voices in our state government,” the letter stated.
As leaders of their churches and faith groups, those that signed the letter said they were “called to protect the dignity and autonomy of our congregations,” and for that reason supported changes to the state redistricting process.
This isn’t the first open letter released in support of the proposed amendment. In January, dozens of Ohio business leaders began signing onto a letter via the national Leadership Now Project. As of Aug. 20, the letter had 82 signatures, including Dr. Amy Acton, Jeni Britton of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Cathy M. Little, former senior VP of Worthington Industries and Robert Schottenstein, chairman and CEO of M/I Homes.
The business leaders’ letter said the proposal “would ban gerrymandering, prohibit consideration of individual incumbents or candidates when drawing maps, and ensure and open and transparent redistricting process with extensive and meaningful public input.”
Those that signed called a process to “ensure fair representation of the voting population” a “crucial aspect of ensuring a robust representative democracy.”
The changes laid out in Issue 1 would include the disbanding of the Ohio Redistricting Commission, made up entirely of elected officials, in favor of a 15-member, citizen-led commission to redraw the statehouse and congressional voting districts in Ohio. The proposed constitutional amendment would also lay out the process by which that commission would decide the districts, including using past election results to establish the partisan ratios used for the districts and adhering to federal redistricting laws.
“More than an initiative, this is a movement,” the faith leaders wrote in their letter. “One that transcends party lines, bringing together a diverse coalition in pursuit of a just and representative democracy where every vote truly matters.”
The Ohio Organizing Collaborative also joined with civil rights organizations in the state like the NAACP, the Ohio Unity Coalition and the state’s Legislative Black Caucus to stand in support of the ballot measure. Citizens Not Politicians announced the groups would be included in an ad for the measure as part of a $20 million “broadcast blitz” launched by the group.
Roberts said in a statement with Citizens Not Politicians that gerrymandering has “harmed Black communities and Black people in Ohio.” He said the current system is “unaccountable” considering the seven maps that were deemed unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court “that are designed to dilute and divide Black communities.”
Back in September 2021, when the last redistricting process was deep into its two-year slog toward statehouse maps, Republican staffer Ray DiRossi presented maps that he said were fully compliant with “the requirements imposed by the state constitution.”
But as directed by “legislative leaders,” DiRossi said “we did not use demographic data or racial data in the production of our maps.”
Those maps would end up being one of five sets that would be ruled unconstitutionally partisan by the Ohio Supreme Court.
“The bottom line is some politicians will say anything to keep our current broken system that lets them work with lobbyists to manipulate voting districts to discriminate against Black voters and silence Black voters’ voices,” Andre Washington, Ohio’s state president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute and 2nd VP of the NAACP Ohio conference, said in a statement supporting Issue 1.
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