AOTL Testifies Against Ohio’s Voter Suppression Bill
For Immediate Release:
June 4, 2021
Contact:
Molly Mitchell
mitchell@redistrictingaction.org
AOTL Testifies Against Ohio’s Voter Suppression Bill
Legislators Shouldn’t Be Making It Harder to Vote
Yesterday, All On The Line (AOTL) Ohio State Director, Katy Shanahan, delivered testimony at the Columbus stop of the Freedom to Vote Town Hall Tour against HB294, which is a direct assault on the right to vote. The bill, which would implement various discriminatory barriers to the ballot box, would disproportionately impact Black and Brown, student, low-income, military and overseas, and senior voters and voters living with disabilities.
Highlights from Katy Shanahan’s testimony include:
“To be clear, the only reason that dangerous bills like HB294 get any traction in the Statehouse is because of our gerrymandered districts. Ohioans overwhelmingly support pro-voter policies that would make the promise of democracy more real for all of us. But those policies are not what’s included in HB294.”
“Our state has a long, sordid history of voter suppression - during the last decade, for example, we have purged more than two million people from the voter rolls, cut down early voting opportunities, gotten rid of Golden Week, and have generally made our democracy less accessible. Meanwhile, recent polling shows that Ohioans overwhelmingly support opening multiple early vote centers, installing multiple drop boxes across counties, providing an easy online ballot request option, and allowing additional forms of identification to be used when casting a ballot. None of these policies are reflected in HB294.”
“At All On The Line, we believe that voters pick our leaders, our leaders do not pick which voters to hear and which to silence and we stand in strong opposition to HB294. Ohio is now part of a troubling national trend to wage an all-out assault on our freedom to vote and it’s time to sound the alarm.”
To watch the full testimony click here.
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All On The Line
All On The Line is on a mission to end gerrymandering because it contributes to the polarization and dysfunction in our political system. Since launching in 2019, we’ve built a grassroots volunteer organization ahead of the 2021 redistricting process. This work includes launching Redistricting U, a national, in-person training program designed to give individuals the knowledge, skills, and tools to take action on redistricting, a program that is now offered virtually. All On The Line is the grassroots campaign of the National Redistricting Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. For more information please visit: https://www.allontheline.org/