Ohio Republican 2021 Redistricting Maps are Absurd. Take a Look.
“Ohio Republicans have proposed new district maps that give them a larger share of seats despite rules against partisan gerrymandering.” – Cleveland.com
Understand the Republican scheme to cling to power and what you can do to ensure every Ohioan gets a fair chance to vote.
Fair Districts Ohio is committed to fairer state legislative and congressional maps. Its non-partisan team of voting rights experts and organizations work to create a better and more equitable representational democracy. The coalition includes Common Cause Ohio, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute, the Ohio Council of Churches, and the Ohio Voter Rights Coalition.
Common Cause, Fair Districts and the League of Women Voters held a contest to draw fair districts maps. This blog describes how fairer district maps can be drawn and how the public can support their campaign to protect democracy.
Ohio gerrymandering
Ohio’s new redistricting system was passed overwhelmingly by Ohio voters in 2015 as a way to fight political gerrymandering. The new sections of the constitution include language to avoid drawing maps that unfairly benefit either party, and to proportionately award legislative seats that align with election results.” Cleveland.com
Ohio has 99 Ohio House Districts and 33 Senate Districts. These are the broad rules for redistricting:
Districts must have substantially Equal Population as determined by the 2020 Census.
Districts must comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act and they must be drawn in a manner to ensure that voters of color can elect representatives of their choosing.
Districts must be contiguous. Each part of a district must be connected to the rest of the district.
Districts must be compact. Generally, districts are compact if they avoid strange shapes or straggling lines.
Maps must comply with Ohio county and municipal splits requirements.
Resources
Republican proposed redistricting map Ohio House
Republican proposed redistricting map for Ohio Senate
Fair District – non gerrymandered district maps for Ohio House
Fair District – non gerrymandered district maps for Ohio Senate
These maps were analyzed with the free Dave’s Redistricting app
TakeAway: Make it easier for people to see how they are losing their voting rights with gerrymandered redistricting maps and what they can do to fight back.
Deepak
DemLabs
Reposted from Democracy Labs with permission.