To the editor:
Last spring, 535,000 Ohioans signed petitions to put Citizens Not Politicians on the ballot this November as Issue 1, an amendment to the state constitution that will create an effective process to draw fair maps for Ohio’s voting districts. If passed, it will end gerrymandering, the practice of shaping districts largely to favor one political party. Because the amendment disallows using voters’ political parties as a criterion for crafting the maps, the votes of Republicans, Democrats, and independents will all matter. Maps are to be drawn by mid-September 2025, to be reviewed and in use by midterm elections, 2026.
Ohio is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country. In all the districts in southeast Ohio, elections are either uncontested or uncompetitive. Through gerrymandering, the city of Athens has been split and shared out between two different districts, greatly weakening the political power of its voters.
The Citizens Not Politicians amendment specifies that members of the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission (OCRC), the strictly multi-partisan task force that will shape the new maps, will be selected to maintain parity of Republican, Democrat, and Independent affiliation. Applicants for the OCRC cannot be public or party office holders, lobbyists, or their family members. The amendment also requires multiple hearings to allow for input during the mapping process.
We must vote for fair maps. Issue 1 is strong, but a weak spot in the process of passage is the Ohio Ballot Board’s power to present the issue dishonestly.
Last Friday, August 16, the Board passed ballot language for Issue 1 that the Citizens Not Politicians group (CNP) says “may be the most biased and unconstitutional language” ever adopted. CNP calls the wording “deceptive and misleading.” The group claims that the Ballot Board’s text violates the state constitution because it distorts the proposition, using wording intended to defraud voters. The Board “gets it entirely backwards” when it says the OCRC would be “required to gerrymander” districts, CNP points out; ridding the state of gerrymandered districts is the point of Issue 1.
CNP has filed a lawsuit that is already before the Ohio Supreme Court and asked for an expedited decision. CNP is demanding that the Ballot Board reconvene and adopt honest language. You can find CNP’s petition text, which you may have signed, on their website and the Ballot Board’s version of Issue 1 here.
As I read the Board’s ballot text, I see lies (Issue 1 would repeal constitutional protections against gerrymandering), distortions meant to alarm and mislead (commissioners would manipulate the boundaries of
districts to favor the largest political parties), and dense language complicating the proposed processes that seems intended to confuse a reader (the text’s points 6 and 7, 38 lines of 500 words of detail). If the Ballot Board is required to compose better text, voters should crowd the room when the Board votes on the new language, to encourage good behavior.
I am convinced that by passing this amendment we can finally end gerrymandering in our state. Citizens’ votes can have power. Do not be deceived by the Ballot Board’s dishonesty. Vote for Citizens not Politicians and urge your family and friends to do so. Citizens Not Politicians and Fair Districts Ohio would also welcome your involvement.
Birch Moonwoman
Nelsonville, Ohio
