Confused about Issue 1? You’re not alone.
Guest columnist Kathie Brinkman writes that confusing ballot language has left Ohio voters unsure about Issue 1, a measure which would put the redistricting process in the hands of a 15-member citizen commission.
Issue 1 is also known as the Citizens Not Politicians initiative. It is on the Nov. 5 ballot in Ohio and will determine how Ohio voting maps are drawn in the future.
If approved by the majority of Ohio voters, Issue 1 will amend the Ohio constitution to create a 15-member citizens commission, composed of 5 Republicans, 5 Democrats and 5 Independents. This citizens redistricting commission will create the Ohio legislative and congressional maps for our state. It will also establish standards and rules that the commission must abide by.
The redistricting commission members must be Ohio voters. Those who have been politicians, lobbyists or immediate family members of politicians or lobbyists in the last six years are not allowed to serve. The commission members will be publicly vetted for these positions, and the rigorous selection process is written into the amendment.
Once the commission is formed, it will be required to hold public meetings prior to and after creating maps. Every meeting of the commission will be held publicly, with no behind-closed-doors meetings allowed. Maps created by this commission must abide by the federal Voting Rights Act and must reflect the voting patterns of Ohio voters. Written into the constitutional amendment is the standard that the maps cannot favor incumbent candidates, nor advantage one party over another. In other words, this citizens commission will not be permitted to follow the path that Ohio’s current process, led by politicians, has used to gerrymander our state.
It’s easy to vote yes on Issue 1 when you know these facts, but voters are confused because of erroneous information now circulating about what Issue 1 will do.
Issue 1 is a citizen’s initiative that began over a year ago. Supporters of the initiative went through all the legal steps to have the amendment language certified by the Ohio Attorney General. With the amendment language approved, they then spent months obtaining over 700,000 signatures from voters across all 88 Ohio counties to put the initiative on the ballot. The legal requirement for certified signatures was easily met, and the initiative was certified for the Nov. 5 ballot as Issue 1.
The final step was the legal process of having the Ohio Ballot Board, led by the Ohio Secretary of State, create the ballot language. That’s when the deception began and why voters are now confused about what Issue 1 will do.
The ballot language that the Ohio Ballot Board wrote states that the commission will require gerrymandering. This false and misleading statement was written by Secretary of State Frank LaRose, the chair of the Ohio Ballot Board. LaRose was also a member of the redistricting commission who voted for maps that were struck down as unconstitutional by the courts seven times.
What’s the purpose of this deceptive ballot language? To confuse Ohio voters and hold on to power. But it’s important to know that the ballot language does not change the language of the amendment. Have you ever seen a movie and then read a review that was not only negative but had major errors about what was even in the movie? The review of the movie doesn’t change the movie — it’s just an opinion. The same is true with the ballot language for Issue 1; it doesn’t change the amendment language. It’s deceptive, but it doesn’t change the fact that Issue 1 will allow citizens to create maps that reflect the voting patterns of Ohio voters, rather than a supermajority that favors one party.
The No campaign is mostly composed of politicians who want to hold on to power and groups who have come into existence within the last month. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine is another vocal opponent to this reform measure, but he agrees that politicians shouldn’t be involved in the map-making process. He, too, was a member of the recent redistricting commission which lost the public trust.
The Yes campaign is supported by dozens of good government groups including the League of Women Voters of Ohio, Fair Districts Ohio, NAACP Ohio, ACLU-Ohio, Ohio Unity Coalition and many more. See the details of the amendment and the list of supporting organizations at www.CitizensNotPoliticians.org.
Vote Yes on Issue 1. Ohio voters deserve fair maps.
Kathie Brinkman is the Co-President for Organization for the League of Women Voters of Oxford.
