Citizens Not Politicians Campaign Finance Filing Shows Broad Support from Diverse Constituencies
In less than four months since collecting its first donation, the nonpartisan statewide coalition Citizens Not Politicians raised more than $3.1 million from a diverse range of individuals and organizations who want to end gerrymandering in Ohio.
“There is so much energy from Ohioans across the political spectrum to end gerrymandering. We are mobilizing in every corner of the state to put citizens – not politicians – in charge of drawing Ohio’s legislative maps in an open and transparent process,” the campaign said in a statement. “We are just getting started, and today’s report shows that there is immense support for this amendment.”
In the report filed today with the Secretary of State, the campaign reported contributions and expenses since its inception last year through Dec. 31, 2023. The group reported raising $3,116,759.46 and spending $1,313,145.37.
The complete report is available here.
The strong financial report is filed just a week after a group of 67 bipartisan Ohio business leaders released an open letter in support of the amendment, saying that gerrymandering corrodes our democratic system, which hinders business and economic development.
Signature gathering is underway across the state. The coalition must collect 413,487 valid signatures of registered voters by July 3, 2024 to qualify for the 2024 Ohio General Election Ballot on Nov. 5.
The Citizens Not Politicians 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, and lobbyists 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 more information can be found at: www.citizensnotpoliticians.org.
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. Read the amendment and learn more at CitizensNotPoliticians.org.