Ohioans—not politicians—are ending gerrymandering. Here’s how.

Chris Tavenor, Associate General Counsel and Managing Director of Democracy Policy, October 11, 2023

Staff and other advocates at the Solidarity Walk for Fair Maps. Photo Credit: Cassie Johnson

The majority of Ohioans want their elected leaders to act on climate and protect our environment. But extreme lawmakers continue to ignore the will of the people. These politicians already passed gerrymandered maps. They even attempted to take away our power at the ballot box.

It’s hard to predict what these politicians and lobbyists will do next to thwart Ohio’s democracy. That’s why Ohioans like you — not politicians — are working to end gerrymandering in our state. Here’s how.

**Ohioans Launched the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment to End Gerrymandering**

The Citizens Not Politicians Ballot Initiative would eliminate the state’s politician-dominated commission for drawing state and federal legislative districts. The constitutional amendment would instead create a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission (OCRC), with members selected by citizens, not politicians. The OCRC would be made up of Democrats, Republicans and independent Ohio voters.

The amendment will:

Create the 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of Republican, Democratic and Independent citizens who broadly represent the different geographic areas and demographics of the state.
Ban current or former politicians, political party officials, lobbyists, and large political donors from sitting on the commission.
Require fair and impartial districts by making it unconstitutional to draw voting districts that discriminate against or favor any political party or individual politician.
Require the commission to operate under an open and independent process.

The amendment and summary can be found at www.citizensnotpoliticians.org/petition.

Join the fight to end gerrymandering in Ohio

Thousands of Ohioans across the state are fighting to put the power back in citizens’ hands — and you can join them. The OEC just launched our Democracy & Environment Action Team to protect Ohio’s environment by ending gerrymandering. By signing up today, you can join us to:

Help collect signatures to get the Citizens Not Politicians Ballot Initiative on the ballot in November 2024!
Educate interested Ohioans on the amendment and how it impacts their community and Ohio’s environment
Be in regular communication with our campaign leads
Make a huge impact toward ensuring a healthy democracy and environment in Ohio!

Updates:

The Ohio Ballot Board certified the proposed amendment as one issue, Ohioans can now begin gathering signatures to put it on the November 2024 ballot!

About Citizens Not Politicians: Citizens Not Politicians is a coalition of people and organizations seeking to end gerrymandering in Ohio by removing politicians from the redistricting process and instead empowering Ohio citizens to draw fair and impartial legislative and congressional districts through an open and independent process.