Micheal Davis, Jr., Executive Director of Promote The Vote in Michigan & Petee Talley, CEO of the Ohio Coalition on Black Civic Participation — Michigan and Ohio don’t agree on much — especially when it comes to football. But there are three things we are fully united on: cheating is wrong, when politicians do it it’s called gerrymandering, and the best way to end gerrymandering is to have citizens draw legislative maps and keep politicians out. Voting Yes on Ohio Issue 1 bans gerrymandering, puts citizens in the game, and benches the politicians.
Politicians in Ohio who are vehemently opposed to State Issue 1 are concerned because it will fix gerrymandering with a similar – though not identical – system that has worked for the people in Michigan. As an Ohio civil rights leader and a proud Michigander who helped bring a successful citizens redistricting commission to the state, respectively, we are urging Ohioans to vote yes on Issue 1.
Ohio politicians who oppose Issue 1 are worried they will lose power. To try and help bolster their argument, they are importing retired politicians from Michigan into Ohio to spread false information about State Issue 1, as well as the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.
Let’s cut through the B.S.
Voting for an independent redistricting commission isn’t giving any rights away. It’s how the people of a state can take their power back. Michigan’s independent, commission-based redistricting process is transparent, impartial, and, for the first time in decades, has given voters the power to choose their politicians, instead of the other way around.
There’s one thing that can bring unscrupulous politicians of both parties together, and that’s gerrymandering. They love it! Why? Because it keeps them in power and insulates them from the real concerns of their voters. They can choose their voters and escape accountability by drawing district lines behind closed doors with lobbyists and highly paid consultants.
But redistricting reform isn’t about which parties will win. It’s about ensuring maps are responsive to voters rather than the politicians that draw them – and guaranteeing that, in our representative democracy, a majority of residents have the power to select their leaders and to vote them out.
True, adopting a new process created some growing pains in Michigan. Both the process and the maps have survived several legal challenges, but in December of last year, a federal court voided several legislative district maps deemed unconstitutional. However, our redistricting process, designed by and for voters, was built to withstand challenges like these. The commission came back together to correct the issues identified by the court, and successfully redrew both the state House and state Senate maps.
The system worked.
Most importantly, the maps remained the product of an independent, transparent process, and were not drawn in secret, by and for politicians. Research shows it created more competitive districts than in previous cycles and contributed to more fair and representative maps overall.
Ohio’s Issue 1 not only follows Michigan’s winning playbook by creating an independent, citizen-led redistricting process, but it also builds on it by offering an even more transparent and thorough approach. Issue 1 would establish a bipartisan panel of judges to carefully vet and select commissioners, ensuring geographic and demographic diversity. By voting for Issue 1, Ohioans have the historic chance to create a redistricting process that is resistant to political manipulation and accountable to the people.
Ohio’s maps are in the top ten most gerrymandered in the country. In fact, the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled seven times that the current politician-led redistricting commission drew unconstitutional maps. The politicians hold the district-drawing pen, but this November, the people of Ohio have the chance to take it back.
Issue 1 gives Ohio voters the opportunity to escape from the current politician-controlled process and instead allow everyday citizens to draw maps that represent voters — not politicians. We can’t guarantee what election results will look like under independently drawn maps (that’s kind of the point!), but we can ensure that by implementing an independent, transparent, and impartial redistricting process, communities will have the power to choose their representatives without politicians controlling the outcomes.
We’re throwing a flag on the politicians in Michigan and Ohio who oppose an independent, citizen-led redistricting process—especially the ones spreading lies in an attempt to cling to power. Ohio will vote yes on Issue 1 and bring power back to the people.
