ICYMI: Equal Districts Coalition Hosts People's Redistricting Hearings in Response to Inaction
For Immediate Release:
October 21, 2021
Contact:
Brooke Lillard
lillard@redistrictingaction.org
Columbus, OH - Yesterday, All On The Line and other members of the Equal Districts Coalition hosted a People’s Redistricting Hearing outside the Ohio Statehouse to demand the open, people-powered congressional redistricting process and fair maps that voters demanded in the 2018 reform and that the state constitution requires. The self-organized People’s Hearings come as a direct response to the inaction from the official process - namely, the Republican-controlled Ohio Redistricting Commission, which has refused to propose a map or to schedule hearings, despite two requests from Co-Chair Sen. Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and constitutional requirements to do so.
“We’re here because certain politicians - the same ones who have spent the last decade suppressing our votes at the ballot box and through gerrymandered districts - have decided to, yet again, shut us out from this process,” said Katy Shanahan, Ohio State Director for All On The Line. “But we’re also here because we’re not going down without a fight. We’re not getting what we need from the official process, so we’re here to organize around it to demand fair maps.”
The Equal Districts Coalition organized yesterday’s hearing and will host a series of virtual People’s Redistricting Hearings next week to get direct input from Ohioans about what they need in a future congressional map in the absence of any official public hearings.
The following are excerpts of testimony from some of the hearing participants and Coalition partners:
"We are here today to tell the Ohio Redistricting Commission to stop cheating us. We are here today because Ohio's Constitution is not a suggestion, it's the law,” said Desiree Tims, President and CEO of Innovation Ohio. “This is no excuse for repeatedly missing deadlines. Because they are ignoring the deadlines, we can all assume that maps are being drawn behind closed doors. And that is cheating.”
"At the Ohio Environmental Council we are fundamentally committed to the fact that in order to have a healthy environment, we must also have a healthy democracy,” said Chris Tavenor, Staff Attorney for the Ohio Environmental Council. “A healthy democracy requires upholding voting rights, it requires ensuring equal access to the ballot box, and it requires a fair and transparent redistricting process.”
"As teachers, it's not often that 81 percent equals an F, but we saw that with the state legislative maps,” said Darold Johnson, Director of Legislation for the Ohio Federation of Teachers. “We have to do better when it comes to our congressional map. We cannot let the Ohio Redistricting Commission ignore their responsibility."
"Over the last 10 years, Ohio has passed over 25 abortion bans. However, Ohioans overwhelmingly support accessible abortion services. [...] Ohioans deserve safe and legal abortion services,” said Lauren Blauvelt-Copelin, Vice President of Government Affairs for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio. “And our lawmakers need to stop hiding behind gerrymandering to pass anti-abortion legislation that Ohioans do not support."
“We do a lot of work around the state and we’ve been doing a lot of work around the redistricting process and we’re not here asking for much. We ask that you stop cheating us,” said Kobie Christian, Communications Director of For Our Future. “We’re asking for congressional maps that reflect Ohio’s partisan balance, allow for pathways to representation for communities of color, and keep our communities together. We want fair maps.”
"Gerrymandered seats make for unresponsive elected officials who play to the extremes, politicians who are there to protect their own power and not to respond to the concerns or the needs of their own constituents. Because we all know that gerrymandering undermines the foundation of our democracy,” said Mia Lewis, Associate Director of Common Cause Ohio.
“The Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission maps actually reflect the communities that have been left out of the conversation. Since April, we've had over 2,000 submitted maps. That includes people like my mother who work six days a week got off of work and figured out how to work a tool online to draw where her church was, where her grocery store was, where her community was to say that those places should be in a district together,” said Prentiss Haney, Co-Executive Director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. "Citizens on the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission were able to get maps out under the Constitutional deadline. Why weren't the people in this Statehouse able to do the same?"
"Muslims, who are often the subject of political discourse, rarely have the opportunity to advocate for themselves. As it stands, Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia, invade our political system, leading to discriminatory laws and policies. We need diverse representation among elected officials,” said Whitney Saddiqi, Community Affairs Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of Ohio. “At the very least, Ohio's Muslims should have adequate political representation in government. who will be accessible and responsive and advocate for our needs."
"Just yesterday, another bill showed up that attacks trans youth, yet again, because they've become political fodder for a certain party. And that's because they don't have to worry about winning a general election,” said Maria Bruno, Public Policy Director of Equality Ohio. “That's already done, you just need to win a primary. Unfair maps mean marginalized Ohioans lose."
The coalition urges Ohio Redistricting Commission members to get to work on proposing a congressional map and hosting public input hearings. Additionally, the Coalition encourages Commission members to attend the virtual events so that they, too, can hear from their constituents about what a fair map means to them. More information about the virtual hearings can be found here.
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