Ohio amendment would put citizens in charge of redistricting

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — While thousands may have gathered for the Arnold Sports Festival, it wasn’t the only event co-founder Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared at this weekend.

A coalition of people and organizations, including the actor and former California governor, came together to advocate against gerrymandering.

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Citizens Not Politicians hosted a panel to get out its message, pushing for Ohio citizens to be the ones leading the redistricting process.

The USC Schwarzenegger Institute, which pushes a “post-partisan” message, joined the conversation.

The groups are trying to end gerrymandering, which is when the boundaries of an area of voters are changed to favor one political party over another. They said people across the state are collecting signatures to put an amendment on Ohio’s November ballot to stop this.

The group is proposing the creation of a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission made up of Republican, Democrat, and Independent citizens. They say this group would lead the redistricting process, not the politicians who are the ones who create the maps right now.

“We have some of the most gerrymandered maps in the country, and so we are here to terminate gerrymandering to really raise awareness about the Citizens Not Politicians amendment, which would ban politicians and lobbyists from drawing maps,” Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Ohio Jen Miller said.

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Ohio’s current state Senate and House maps had to be redrawn six times after the state Supreme Court ruled five times that the proposed maps were too partisan.

“It’s important for the institute to get out and find out what voters are thinking and also just to talk about redistricting and redistricting reform all over the country,” Academic Director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute Christian Grose said.

Citizens Not Politicians needs a little more than 413,000 signatures from 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties to get the amendment on the ballot. The group said it is on track to reach that goal.

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