We’re working to get the Citizens Not Politicians amendment on the 2024 ballot. This is how we finally end gerrymandering in Ohio.

If passed by Ohio voters in November, this change to the Ohio constitution will remove politicians from the process of creating legislative maps and shift that responsibility to citizens, through the creation of an independent redistricting commission.

Why is this important?  Ohio voters overwhelmingly passed redistricting reform measures at the ballot box in 2015 and 2018 because they wanted to make the redistricting process fair. But those on the Ohio Redistricting Commission didn’t follow the rules. In 2021 and 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled seven times that the Ohio maps created by the commission were unconstitutional; five times for state maps and twice for congressional maps.

How could this happen? The problem is that the Ohio constitution doesn’t have a penalty for the creation of unconstitutional maps. Despite a constitutional mandate requiring an open and transparent process, politicians on the Ohio Redistricting Commission made these illegal maps behind closed doors over and over again.

The Citizens Not Politicians initiative fixes these problems. It would create a 15 member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of 5 Republicans, 5 Democrats and 5 Independents who represent the different geographic areas and demographics of Ohio. It prohibits current and former politicians, political party officials, and lobbyists from serving on the commission. It requires fair districts by making it unconstitutional to draw maps that favor ANY political party or individual politician, and it requires the commission to operate under an open and independent process that relies upon impartial map drawing specialists. 

You’ll see signature collectors out at events and going door to door. Let’s end gerrymandering in Ohio once and for all. Sign the Citizens Not Politicians petition.

Want to help with the effort? Contact us at lwvoxford [at] gmail.com