David Miller, January 10, 2018
The Ohio Environmental Council is one of the leading organizations of the Fair Districts=Fair Elections coalition working to give Ohioans an opportunity to vote on the future of their congressional representation. Today, a member of the redistricting work group announced his plan to address our gerrymandered congressional districts. The following statement can be attributed in full, or in part, to Heather Taylor-Miesle, Executive Director of the Ohio Environmental Council:
“The ideas put forward today by Senator Huffman (R-Lima) are simply unacceptable, will not fix the unfair congressional districts and could even make the current process worse. From the beginning, the Fair Districts=Fair Elections coalition has sought to amend the Ohio Constitution to ensure that our congressional districts are drawn by a bipartisan body, do not favor or disfavor a party or candidate, are transparent, and keep communities whole by not splitting up counties or cities. Instead of accomplishing these goals, this proposal relies on old tactics that will only serve to protect the status quo.
“Our coalition has been an all volunteer effort, spread across each of Ohio’s 88 counties, and with over 193,000 valid signatures collected, we are close to getting our measure on the November ballot. The legislature’s fear-induced proposal to protect their own gerrymandering tactics means that our actions are working, and we will continue our efforts to ensure that Ohioans have an opportunity to vote to secure fair congressional districts this November.”