Are we the frogs in the boiling frog metaphor? Just asking. You remember the tale, right? The frogs are sitting in a pot of water that’s gradually getting hotter. But they’re only slightly uncomfortable with the rising temperatures and don’t react until it’s too late. They keep adjusting to the heat (normalizing it?) even as they’re boiled alive. Are we making similar adjustments to the … Read more

Black former state lawmakers from Ohio and Michigan on Monday broke with Democrats in general and the NAACP by arguing that a proposed constitutional amendment to overhaul redistricting will lead to fewer minorities in office. They also claimed that approval of Issue 1 would put the map-making pen in the hands of an inexperienced citizens panel that would be unaccountable to voters. Both arguments mirror … Read more

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose seems to never stop finding ways to undermine his own reputation, with decisions that flout his job duties as the state’s chief election official. He did it again last month, when he approved blatant partisan language for the Citizens Not Politicians state amendment on the November ballot. It’s the third Issue 1 on a statewide ballot in as many … Read more

As a member of Gen-Z, I often hear people my age say that they don’t vote because they feel their vote doesn’t matter. In a lot of ways, they’re absolutely right, but we can change that. I cast my first ballot in 2020 during my first year at the University of Dayton. I was excited to vote, but I was also disillusioned and disappointed. I … Read more

With just over a month before early voting starts for the 2024 general election, it’s a good time to tell readers there’s still time to register to vote if you’re not registered and time to make a change of address if you’ve moved since the last election, in May this year.  For general elections, when there’s a presidential contest voters will decide, we’re always told … Read more

Toledo resident Pierrette “Petee” Talley has not voted for her state senator since 2018; not because she didn’t want to, but because there hasn’t been one on the ballot. Ms. Talley, who lives on Parkside Boulevard, and other Toledo residents were previously in state Senate District 11, and they expected to vote for a candidate in 2018. When they got their ballots, though, they couldn’t … Read more

Remember the Frank LaRose of working across the aisle, seeking to solve problems, finding common ground with opponents? He had been fading away, especially as the secretary of state looked to gain favor and advance in a Trumpian Republican Party. Now he has disappeared entirely. At least, that was the clear impression as LaRose presided at the most recent gathering of the Ohio Ballot Board. … Read more

Projection must be one of the dirtiest deeds we find in politics these days, and it can be confoundingly effective. In this election season, some Ohio politicians are using it to persuade voters to harm themselves, just as those same leaders did last year. It didn’t work then, and you just might want to mount up again to ensure it does not work now. I’m … Read more

Advocates pushing an anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio to remove politicians from mapmaking in favor of a citizen commission said the state’s ballot board should be forced to start over on summary language for the November proposal. Attorneys said the proposed amendment would ban partisan gerrymandering “by setting forth robust redistricting criteria to ensure fair maps, selection standards to ensure the new commission’s impartiality and accountability, … Read more

Competition is the lifeblood of our economy. It drives innovation, improves services, and ensures that the best ideas rise to the top. But trust matters even more for the health of our economy – trust in business, government, and our political system. Issue 1, on our ballot this November, will help restore both competition and trust to government in Ohio. Right now, politicians skew election … Read more

Meandering, odd-shaped districts are the very picture of gerrymandering, which defines Ohio’s congressional map. It is among the most blatantly gerrymandered congressional maps in the nation. The Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which rates the maps of all 50 states, gives Ohio a “D” – placing it in the bottom one-fourth of the nation. The highly respected Cook Political Report, which assigns partisan indexes to all congressional … Read more

This Court has never hesitated to strictly enforce the legal requirements for the text that appears on the ballot.” COLUMBUS, Ohio – Today, the nonpartisan Citizens Not Politicians coalition filed its merit brief and evidence with the Ohio Supreme Court, challenging the Ohio Ballot Board’s misleading and biased language for Issue 1, the proposed constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering in Ohio. The filing emphasizes the … Read more

James Madison, in Federalist No. 10, warned us about the dangers of factions—groups that, driven by self-interest, work against the public good.  “By a faction, I understand a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or a minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adversed to the rights of other citizens, or to … Read more

Beneath the Boy Scout demeanor of the Louisiana congressman with horn-rimmed glasses, lies a shrewd political operator who finessed his way to the most powerful position in Congress. But while U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson may disarm some with his unimposing pleasantness, the Shreveport Republican is consumed with maintaining and growing one-party domination. To that end, he’s gracing Ohio Tuesday night to headline a Cleveland … Read more

Voters must always be cautious about relying solely on ballot language to decide about a measure. There are often many parties involved in the process who have their own interests in making that language sway voters one way or another. Now, supporters of a state redistricting amendment in Ohio are objecting to the ballot board’s summary of their proposal, calling it inaccurate, devious and manipulative. … Read more

Ohio voters will start heading to the polls in 42 days for early voting and Election Day is now only 70 days away, which means campaigns are ramping up to be full speed ahead after Labor Day. There is only one state issue on the ballot this fall, called Issue 1, brought forward by Citizens Not Politicians. Some Ohioans are hitting the streets to help make sure … Read more

This fall, all 99 seats in Ohio’s House of Representatives are up for election. Voters should be seeing an exciting, unpredictable campaign season unfold, with candidates vying to address their needs.  That’s not happening. Because of the way the powerful lawmakers and political insiders drew the district lines, victory is all but guaranteed for many candidates, months before Election Day.   This is nothing new … Read more

Remember the Frank LaRose of working across the aisle, seeking to solve problems, finding common ground with opponents? He had been fading away, especially as the secretary of state looked to gain favor and advance in a Trumpian Republican Party. Now he has disappeared entirely. At least, that was the clear impression as LaRose presided at the most recent gathering of the Ohio Ballot Board. … Read more

In arguably the most brazen political maneuver in recent Statehouse history, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose is trying to flim-flam Ohioans into voting against their own interests. And this isn’t the first time. Last year, LaRose tried to persuade Ohio voters to make it harder to directly amend the state constitution by ballot issue, a right Ohioans have had since 1912. Voters said no … Read more

Smell that? Yeah, that stink. It’s the stench coming from Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office as he spearheads a disingenuous process to deceive people about the intent of Issue 1, which goes before voters in November. The amendment would remove politicians’ control over redistricting and create an independent commission to draw fair legislative maps. That’s it in a nutshell. Instead, LaRose’s office wrote … Read more

Voters must always be cautious about relying solely on ballot language to decide about a measure. There are often many parties involved in the process who have their own interests in making that language sway voters one way or another. Now, supporters of a state redistricting amendment in Ohio are objecting to the ballot board’s summary of their proposal, calling it inaccurate, devious and manipulative. … Read more

For the third time in a little more than a year, Secretary of State Frank LaRose is in court over ballot language he and other Republicans wrote describing a measure they oppose. This time, LaRose is getting sued over language the GOP-controlled Ohio Ballot Board approved last Friday describing a redistricting reform amendment voters will decide in November. The campaign backing the amendment, Citizens Not Politicians, has … Read more

“Now he just serves evil” aptly describes a politician who repeatedly ignores his sworn duty to instead serve a corrupt gerrymandering system. Understand the rage against this corrupt political machine. For the third time in nine years, a bipartisan coalition has been forced to submit a statewide ballot measure to bring fair elections to Ohio because the first two were sabotaged with “unconstitutional” maps – … Read more

The Republican controlled Ohio Ballot Board, exercising a lose-at-all-costs strategy, has approved language for the proposed amendment to put citizens in charge of political redistricting that stamps the GOP’s political label on the ballot summary (“Reform backers to sue over ballot language,” Saturday). The group Citizens Not Politicians is right to claim the approved language violates Ohio law requiring impartial language. They are suing to … Read more

He’s done it again. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has deliberately sabotaged the ballot language of a citizens’ initiative on redistricting. He wants voters to defeat it in November so he’s manipulating the wording on the ballot summary to advance that objective.  I don’t know what happened to the state’s election chief. Early on LaRose had a solid reputation as a conscientious statewide official … Read more

The Ohio Supreme Court should step in on behalf of voters and order a rewrite of ballot language for a fall redistricting measure that “may be the most biased, inaccurate, deceptive, and unconstitutional” the state has ever seen, argues a lawsuit filed late Monday. Citizens Not Politicians, the campaign advancing November’s Issue 1, and two individuals brought the promised litigation against the Ohio Ballot Board and Republican Secretary of … Read more

The Ohio Ballot Board is being sued over language it’s using for a proposed constitutional amendment that would take politicians out of the redistricting process. The group Citizens Not Politicians is behind the ballot initiative that would remove Ohio politicians from the map-making process. In the lawsuit, the group is asking the Ohio Supreme Court to compel the ballot board to reconvene and adopt ballot … Read more

 The nonpartisan Citizens Not Politicians coalition today filed a lawsuit with the Ohio Supreme Court against the Ohio Ballot Board, challenging the historically deceptive and misleading ballot language adopted Friday for Issue 1, the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment to end gerrymandering. The suit seeks an expedited ruling to ensure that Ohio voters receive a fair and accurate description of the amendment on the Nov. 5 … Read more

Blatant abuse of power violates Ohio law, Constitution   Columbus, OH  — After the Ohio Ballot Board today adopted illegal and inaccurate language designed to mislead Ohio voters about Issue 1, the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment to end gerrymandering, the nonpartisan coalition supporting the amendment announced it will immediately file suit in the Ohio Supreme Court next week to have the language changed. “It’s one … Read more

The office of Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has drafted ballot language for the Ohio Ballot Board to consider Friday that supporters of an anti-gerrymandering amendment say is deceptive and unconstitutional. The Ballot Board decides the text of proposed amendments that voters actually see on their ballots when they vote. The anti-gerrymandering amendment before Ohio voters in November, according to the language drafted by … Read more

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Civil rights groups across Ohio are decrying the state elections chief’s proposed ballot language for a fall redistricting amendment as it goes up for a vote Friday, saying it intentionally twists their intent in order to boost opposition votes in November. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose proposes describing the Citizens Not Politicians measure as repealing “constitutional protections against gerrymandering approved … Read more

A panel of lawmakers meets Friday to determine the summary language voters will see in November when deciding whether to change the state’s redistricting process. The group behind the proposed constitutional amendment, Citizens Not Politicians, has submitted proposed language that the Republican-dominated Ohio Ballot Board could adopt. But if the past is prologue, it probably won’t. Critics concerned language can be changed by partisans Citizens Not … Read more

The Ohio Secretary of State’s office is proposing loaded ballot language for a redistricting reform measure on the November ballot Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office is proposing loaded ballot language for a redistricting reform measure, including references to manipulating the boundaries of legislative districts and repealing constitutional protections against gerrymandering. The proposed ballot language for state Issue 1, distributed Thursday and obtained by … Read more

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Backers of a ballot issue that would change how state legislative and congressional districts are drawn in Ohio say ballot language written by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is illegally manipulative. The charge by the Citizens Not Politicians campaign comes after it received the proposed language from LaRose, a Republican. Most elected Republicans in Ohio have said they oppose the amendment, which could … Read more

Language adheres to legal requirements that the Ballot Board must adopt  ‘true and impartial statement’ COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Citizens Not Politicians campaign today sent proposed ballot language to the Ohio Ballot Board for the Nov. 5 election, aiming to provide Ohio voters with a clear and accurate description of the proposed constitutional amendment to reform Ohio’s redistricting process. The Ohio Ballot Board will meet … Read more

Gov. Mike DeWine has come out against the proposal on the fall ballot to change the way lawmakers’ district lines are drawn. He also touted Iowa’s redistricting process as one that should be used in the Buckeye State. But backers of Citizens Not Politicians, the group supporting Ohio’s proposed amendment, said elements of that process in Iowa were included in the Ohio proposal. While announcing … Read more

A ruling last week by a Republican judge demonstrates why Ohioans should approve this November’s “Citizens Not Politicians” ballot issue to end the gerrymandering of General Assembly and congressional districts. At issue: A bid by opponents to overturn Republican state legislators’ latest foray into bashing trans-sexual Ohioans, Substitute House Bill 68, passed in January, overriding its veto by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. DeWine is wrong … Read more

Mike Curtin is a former editor and associate publisher of the Columbus Dispatch, and a former two-term state lawmaker who served on the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission. Geography class isn’t what it used to be. In the first two decades of the 21st century, our nation’s curriculum sages downgraded it. Then, in 2019, geography was removed altogether from the testing schedule of the National Assessment … Read more

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday called on Ohio voters to reject the voter-proposed “Citizens Not Politicians” ballot issue that will appear on November’s statewide ballot. If Ohioans ratify the plan – proposed by the petition signatures of 535,005 registered voters (almost 121,000 more than the required minimum) – the proposed constitutional amendment would wrest away control of drawing the state’s congressional and legislative districts … Read more

Ohio voters are about to seriously test the adage, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” And the people who are trying, yet again, to do the fooling are the state’s election officials. They successfully used a bait-and-switch tactic to derail bona-fide gerrymandering reform a decade ago. Will the tactics that Gov. Mike DeWine launched this week to repeat the … Read more

Citizens Not Politicians Campaign Finance Filing Shows Broad Support from Diverse Constituencies    Columbus, OH  — Less than a year since collecting its first donation, the nonpartisan statewide coalition Citizens Not Politicians has raised nearly $25 million from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents who support the coalition’s constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering in Ohio, according to the group’s campaign finance report filed today. “This is a … Read more

With a proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would remove redistricting from politicians, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine wants the GOP-majority Statehouse to come up with a different solution. DeWine said at a news conference Wednesday the current system needs to be changed, but the amendment would create more gerrymandering than is currently seen. He wants lawmakers to develop a new plan during the … Read more

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that he will work to defeat a fall ballot issue aimed at remaking the state’s troubled political mapmaking system, and, if it passes, work with state lawmakers next year to advance a competing amendment based on the Iowa model. At a news conference complete with corroborating visuals, DeWine contended that rules laid out in the Citizens Not Politicians amendment would … Read more

The Ohio NAACP, the Ohio Unity Coalition and the Ohio Organizing Collaborative responded to Gov. Mike DeWine’s statement on the Citizens Not Politicians ballot measure that gained enough signatures to reach the ballot in November. This amendment is incredibly important because Ohio is still one of the 10 most gerrymandered states in our nation,” said Petee Talley, executive director of the Ohio Unity Coalition. “In … Read more

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday called on Ohio voters to reject the voter-proposed “Citizens Not Politicians” ballot issue that will appear on November’s statewide ballot. If Ohioans ratify the plan — proposed by the petition signatures of more than 731,000 people — the proposed constitutional amendment will wrest away control of drawing the state’s congressional and legislative from Statehouse insiders, including DeWine. A 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, composed of … Read more

Now he’s pitching a proposal that would have lawmakers draft redistricting reform based on an “Iowa plan” that leaves lawmakers with final authority Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine clutching his pearls Wednesday morning about predetermined partisan outcomes after he forced unconstitutional district maps on voters that gave his party 67 out of 99 Ohio House seats and 26 out of 33 Ohio Senate seats in a … Read more

Retired Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor today issued the following statement in response to Gov. Mike DeWine’s news conference in which he discussed redistricting: The disinformation from the Governor today is insulting to everyone in Ohio, and especially insulting to the half a million Ohioans — Republicans, Democrats and Independents — who put the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment on the November ballot. Gov. … Read more

Members of Ohio’s Redistricting Commission were served notice earlier this month that Ohioans have had enough of the mess the commission purposefully made of our voting districts. According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, the group Citizens Not Politicians managed to collect more than 731,000 signatures to prove the point. The effort was aimed at getting an amendment to the Ohio Constitution placed on … Read more

There’s some good news and some troubling news about election integrity and fair elections in Ohio. The big news is the certification of the Citizens Not Politicians issue for the November ballot. If passed, it would create a nonpartisan citizens commission, consisting of five Democrats, five Republicans and five unaffiliated or independent members, to redraw Ohio’s legislative and congressional districts to reflect the actual balance … Read more

The good news from the Statehouse last week was that Ohioans will get a chance this November to require fairly drawn General Assembly districts by wresting “apportionment” power from political insiders. The “Citizens Not Politicians” plan has been proposed by the petition signatures of 535,005 registered Ohio voters – almost 121,000 more (or 29%) than the required minimum. The constitutional amendment (key backers include retired Ohio … Read more

Ohio Republicans are considering trying to foil a redistricting reform amendment that recently qualified for the November ballot by putting up a separate redistricting proposal of their own to compete with it, according to a Republican state lawmaker who said she has discussed the plans with legislative leadership. Several state lawmakers who spoke with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer said they weren’t aware of any specifics. But … Read more

Ohio advocates believe lawmakers will finally be able to be held accountable now that an anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment will be on the November ballot. Unsurprisingly, politicians who benefit from the redistricting process are not in favor of losing that power. Ohio could look drastically different in the coming years. “It was such an incredible feeling to know that we made the ballot,” Jen Miller with … Read more

The Citizens Not Politicians Amendment would replace the current method for drawing political district boundaries. It’s official: In November, Ohioans will have the opportunity to vote on the Citizens Not Politicians amendment to end gerrymandering, the practice of drawing political district boundaries in ways that benefit one party over another. Here are some explanations for what that means and how it works. What is gerrymandering? … Read more

Voters will decide in November whether to overhaul Ohio’s system of drawing political district maps after state officials said Tuesday the campaign had collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Citizens Not Politicians, the campaign group backing the amendment, needed to get 413,487 signatures, including a minimum number from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Tuesday the group had … Read more

Citizens Not Politicians submitted enough signatures to make the fall ballot. It’s official: Ohioans will vote on whether to remove politicians from congressional and statehouse redistricting this November. Citizens Not Politicians, the group backing a redistricting amendment, submitted enough valid signatures to make the fall ballot, the Ohio Secretary of State announced Tuesday. In total, 535,005 of the 731,306 signatures submitted were accepted, which was … Read more

The Ohio Secretary of State’s office said Tuesday the group that wants to reform the redistricting process submitted enough valid signatures to put the proposed constitutional amendment before voters in November. The group, Citizens Not Politicians, needed about 414,000 valid signatures. 535,000 from 58 of Ohio’s 88 countieswere certified. Chris Davey, the Citizens Not Politician spokesperson, said they expected to surpass the threshold of petitions … Read more

A constitutional amendment on redistricting in Ohio has qualified for the Ohio ballot in November, according to Secretary of State Frank LaRose. Dubbed “Citizens not Politicians,” the amendment seeks to end what political experts have described as gerrymandered voter districts in Ohio. The amendment seeks to do four main things according to a website promoting it: The measure needed at least 413,487 signatures from 44 … Read more

Ohio voters will decide on a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment looking to change redistricting laws for the state this November. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced Tuesday that the Citizens Not Politicians-led redistricting initiative aiming to remove politicians from the redistricting process will be on the ballot this election. Instead, the amendment proposes a redistricting commission to create a “fair, transparent and impartial redistricting process that genuinely … Read more

LIMA — Ohio voters thought the issue of gerrymandering, in which the determination of political district boundaries would favor one political party over another, was settled in a 2015 referendum that created the Ohio Redistricting Commission, a body that would provide for a more bipartisan approach to district mapping. However, in the wake of controversial redistricting results that led to multiple court cases in 2022 … Read more

Redistricting reform supporters are waiting to see if they make the Nov. 5 ballot – though it seems likely, since they submitted 300,000 more signatures than they needed. That would make it the only statewide issue on the fall ballot, since the group backing a minimum wage hike failed to get the required signatures.ic in The statewide ballot will feature a presidential race and a … Read more

For once, good news for Ohioans from the Statehouse: An enthusiastic throng, spearheaded by the retired chief justice of Ohio’s Supreme Court – Greater Cleveland Republican Maureen O’Connor – celebrated the submission last week of 731,306 signatures by registered voters who are backing a proposed Ohio constitutional amendment (the Citizens Not Politicians plan) to stymie the rigging of General Assembly and Ohio’s U.S. House districts … Read more

First in Series of Videos Underscores Broad Based Support for New Constitutional Amendment Just days after handing in more than 730,000 signatures and rallying hundreds of Republican, Democrat and Independent voters for a packed Statehouse demonstration, the Citizens Not Politicians coalition on Monday released its first salvo of the campaign for a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering: A new video that highlights the damage gerrymandering … Read more

As the State of Ohio policy advocate for the National Council of Jewish Women, my volunteer role is to assist our members in creating relationships with our elected officials so those officials hear from and understand their constituents’ positions on proposed legislation. Fairness in elections is a critical part of our democracy and an issue of high importance. Elections are supposed to be about determining … Read more

Members of Ohio’s Redistricting Commission were served notice on July 1 that ordinary Ohioans have had enough of the mess the commission purposefully made of our voting districts. According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, the group Citizens Not Politicians managed to collect more than 731,000 signatures to prove the point. The effort was aimed at getting an amendment to the Ohio Constitution placed … Read more

(The Center Square) – A constitutional amendment to prevent political redistricting is likely to appear on the Ohio ballot in November. The Citizens Not Politicians campaign delivered 731,306 signatures collected from all 88 Ohio counties to the Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office for a constitutional amendment to establish an independent redistricting commission. The initiative has broad bipartisan backing. Supporters say the amendment, which bars current or … Read more

Members of Ohio’s Redistricting Commission were served notice earlier Monday that ordinary Ohioans have had enough of the mess the commission purposefully made of our voting districts. According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, the group Citizens Not Politicians managed to collect more than 731,000 signatures to prove the point. The effort was aimed at getting an amendment to the Ohio Constitution placed on … Read more

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Ohio is one step closer to having a high-stakes redistricting reform amendment on the November ballot after backers submitted hundreds of thousands of voter signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office on Monday. We’re talking about the future of our government on Today in Ohio. Listen online here. Editor Chris Quinn hosts our daily half-hour news podcast, with editorial board member Lisa Garvin, … Read more

Voters should be the ones to choose their leaders, not the other way around. While that idea may seem obvious, there are many states — including Ohio — where the people in charge of drawing voting maps are the politicians who stand to benefit most from manipulating those maps.   When politicians manipulate how voting maps are drawn to benefit themselves or their party, that’s … Read more

Nobody, but showboating extremists in the Ohio legislature, gives a damn about which school bathroom is used by a minuscule number of transgender students. Ask anyone not cocooned in a right-wing media bubble of religious zealotry, fear, and grievance about bathroom policing of trans youth and chances are they couldn’t care less.   Unlike state lawmakers — consumed with slipping bogus bathroom bans into an unrelated Ohio House … Read more

An Ohio political group hand delivered more than 731,000 petition signatures to the secretary of state’s doorstep on Monday with the hope that it’s enough to allow Ohioans to vote on redistricting reform this November. Signature verification by the state is set to follow. At least 413,487 of those signatures need to be valid, and 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties need to be represented by … Read more

This November, Ohioans may may weigh another statewide citizen-led change to Ohio’s constitution. Monday morning, two U-Haul trucks delivered 810 boxes to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office. Each box was filled with signatures collected from every county in the state in support of Citizens Not Politicians, a nonpartisan campaign to get a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment on November’s ballot. The group wants to create a … Read more

Backers of a proposal to change Ohio’s troubled political mapmaking system delivered hundreds of thousands of signatures on Monday as they work to qualify for the statewide ballot this fall. Citizens Not Politicians dropped off more than 700,000 petition signatures to Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office in downtown Columbus, according to Jen Miller, director of League of Women Voters. LaRose now will … Read more

U-Hauls backed in and out of a freight loading dock behind Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office in downtown Columbus on Monday, delivering stacks of boxes filled with paper petitions from across the state. The petitions contain signatures from Ohioans in all 88 counties who want to change the redistricting process. It takes months and lots of money to mount a successful effort to … Read more

Hundreds Rally at Ohio Statehouse to Restore Power to Citizens In a powerful display of popular support, the Citizens Not Politicians campaign today delivered 731,306 signatures from every county in Ohio to the Secretary of State’s Office for a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering in Ohio. Republican, Democrat, and Independent Ohio voters unloaded 810 boxes of petitions from four trucks and delivered them to the … Read more

A group that hopes to change the process used for drawing legislative and congressional district lines will file their signatures Monday to put their plan before voters this fall. Citizens Not Politicians needs 413,487 valid signatures on petitions to put the constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The group said it will submit 731,000 signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office Monday. They’ve been … Read more

Fed up with politicians manipulating maps to ensure reelection, a crowd of Ohio voters took a key step toward offering a redistricting alternative on the November ballot. That alternative would replace Ohio’s current system for drawing congressional and legislative maps, which relies on elected officials, with a 15-member panel of Ohioans without close ties to politics. The campaign, called Citizens Not Politicians, delivered more than … Read more

Campaign workers with the Citizens Not Politicians redistricting amendment unload boxes of petitions at a loading dock for the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office in Columbus on Monday, July 1, 2024. (Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com)Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio is one step closer to having a high-stakes redistricting reform amendment on the November ballot, after backers submitted hundreds of thousands of voter signatures to … Read more

Ohio could soon vote on a new redistricting model that replaces politicians with a citizen panel. Backers of the overhaul are poised to submit more than 731,000 signatures on Monday to make the November ballot. Citizens Not Politicians wants to replace the current method of drawing congressional and legislative districts, which relies on politicians holding the mapmaking pen, with a 15-member citizen panel. Five Democrats, … Read more

When Jefferson wrote “all men are created equal,” he argued natural rights were rendered by “nature’s God,” that men were born with them. Jefferson believed “that we are and have always been the source of our own authority; that we govern ourselves not through acts of faith but through acts of understanding; and that if we should find ourselves beholden to some other imaginary authority, … Read more

Voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around. Redistricting commissions — when done right — are a crucial, voter-centric reform designed to make the redistricting process transparent and impartial. In 2021, 22 states utilized redistricting commissions to draw state legislative or congressional maps, directly impacting political representation for over 80 million voters — nearly 50% of all registered American voters. But not all … Read more

Who cares about Shelby County? Not Statehouse politicians, who callously carved up Shelby County in drawing the latest map of Ohio’s 15 congressional districts. The Ohio Constitution requires congressional districts to be compact, not irregularly shaped. It also requires contiguity, keeping neighboring communities together. The current map ignores these requirements. Shelby County is a prime example of the disdain of state lawmakers who drew the … Read more

American government is a complex machine. The Founders ensured it would be when crafting the U.S. Constitution, reserving “few and defined” powers to the federal government, leaving “numerous and indefinite” powers as to the states, as James Madison explained. The Founders’ intent to protect citizens from federal overreach ensured the United States would, in time, develop one of the most decentralized systems of government in … Read more

Americans of both parties routinely express deep concern about the state of the country’s democracy. This fall, many voters may have a chance to do something about it, by voting on state ballot measures related to the nuts and bolts of elections and governance. Eight states, including Ohio and seven others largely in the West, appear all but certain to field ballot measures that would … Read more

CLEVELAND — In the ongoing saga of American democracy, one fundamental principle stands tall: every citizen deserves fair representation. In Ohio, politicians continue to frustrate that notion through unfair and unconstitutional policies. For Cleveland voters, Black voices have been stifled for far too long due to unfair redistricting practices. It is imperative we advocate for redistricting that ensures equitable representation for all, especially the Black … Read more

A nonpartisan group of over 100 healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals from across Ohio, has launched Ohio Health Advocates for Democracy. In an open letter published online today, they endorsed the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment to end gerrymandering and restore representative government in Ohio. “As healthcare providers, we’ve witnessed firsthand how crucial responsive governance is,” said Dr. Bryan Hambley, a blood … Read more

When former Republican Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor retired from the Court at the end of 2022 after a record amount of years in service to the Buckeye State, she didn’t waste time getting back to work. O’Connor, now 72, began her career on the state’s highest court in 2003 and retired due to constitutionally mandated age limits as the longest-serving statewide elected … Read more

Tuscarawas County gets no respect. Among Ohio’s 88 counties, none is treated worse by the newest, gerrymandered map of our state’s 15 congressional districts. The Ohio Constitution requires congressional districts to be compact, not irregularly shaped. It also requires contiguity, keeping neighboring communities together. The current map ignores these requirements. Tuscarawas County is Exhibit No. 1. The county is torn from northwest to southeast. Western … Read more

In 2018, Michigan voters rejected the traditional model of having state legislators create electoral maps. They chose a different method aimed at removing extreme partisanship from the redistricting process. In 2021 the state used an independent commission made up of four Democrats, four Republicans and five independents to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional maps. It was no easy task. In December a federal judge struck down … Read more

Nonpartisan Coalition to Terminate Gerrymandering in the Buckeye State Continues to Grow COLUMBUS, Ohio – The grassroots nonpartisan Citizen Not Politicians campaign today announced the support of nearly 100 organizations, businesses, and thought leaders across Ohio for a constitutional amendment that will end gerrymandering in the state.  The diverse coalition supporting the historic initiative includes Republicans, Independents and Democrats and is made up of business … Read more

This article delves into the history of redistricting of the Ohio General Assembly and presents the business case for rejecting partisan gerrymandering. It also identifies the Citizens Not Politicians amendment, which its supporters believe will end partisan gerrymandering by assigning redistricting to an independent 15-person commission composed of five Democrats, 5 Republicans, and five independents. The Focus on State-Level Gerrymandering Partisan gerrymandering at the state results … Read more

A small group of people gathered at the Washington County Fairgrounds Tuesday morning to hear former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor speak about efforts to put a constitutional amendment for the state redistricting process on the November ballot. O’Connor, a Republican who retired in 2023 due to an age limit for judges running for the Ohio Supreme Court, was the first woman to … Read more

MASSILLON – A retired Ohio Supreme Court judge was barnstorming though parts of eastern Ohio Tuesday calling out perceived gerrymandering in forming congressional districts. As part of her tour, former Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor met with about three dozen voters outside a polling location at First Christian Church to advocate for a redistricting reform measure to be placed on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. Special race result:Michael Rulli wins … Read more

 Retired Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor on Tuesday visited polling places across the 6th Ohio Congressional District for the special election. She met with voters and local leaders and thanked volunteers gathering signatures for a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering. “At the same time that you are doing your civic duty and participating in this election, the politicians in Columbus continue to shirk … Read more

Gov. Mike DeWine chose three words to describe the embarrassing episode staged by his fellow Republicans running the Statehouse — absurd, ridiculous and unacceptable. All three are apt in view of legislative leaders at an impasse in addressing something they have fixed in the past. Ohio law requires certification of the November ballot 90 days before an election. As it is, Democrats won’t nominate Joe … Read more

Gerrymandering, the reshaping of voting districts to unfairly favor one party, is an obstacle to fair representation for Ohio citizens. Our state is alarmingly gerrymandered. Nearly every voting district has been warped by the legislature’s majority to make the election uncompetitive or a race uncontested. While both parties have been guilty of this practice, in recent years the district maps have largely favored Republicans, allowing … Read more

ARMONK, New York — After the 2020 census, the Ohio General Assembly redrew the map of Ohio’s 4th Congressional District to look like a jigsaw puzzle missing random pieces in order to keep it a safe district for Rep. Jim Jordan. But we need not be stuck with the consequences of partisan gerrymandering forever. This November, if Democrats flip Ohio’s Supreme Court, currently controlled by a 4-3 Republican … Read more

We vote for our legislative representatives, but the reality is, they select the voters who put them in office. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. A group called Citizens Not Politicians is poised to bring real change to how state and congressional legislative districts are drawn in Ohio. Before explaining what’s coming, let’s take stock of where we are. Gerrymandering — drawing statehouse and congressional maps to favor one … Read more

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With a month to go until a pivotal state deadline, the campaign behind a proposed redistricting reform amendment says it expects to collect more than enough signatures that it needs to qualify for the ballot in November. Chris Davey, a spokesperson for Citizens Not Politicians, declined to say exactly how many signatures the group has collected. But he said this week the … Read more

Elinor Polster has lived in Cleveland for all of her 98 years and has advocated for social justice as long as she can remember. Now, decades after helping to foster a famous racially integrated community in Shaker Heights, she’s on a new mission: collecting signatures from her fellow Clevelanders for the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment to end gerrymandering in Ohio. The proposed constitutional amendment would … Read more

As we celebrate Memorial Day Monday and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, it’s imperative to reflect on the importance of fair representation and the integrity of our electoral system. The recent gerrymandering in Ohio, one of the most manipulated states in the nation, has undermined the democratic process and the will of the people. It’s time for a change, … Read more