Redistricting requires a constitutional amendment, and we will need to gather petition signatures to get the proposed amendment on the ballot. This effort is being led by Fair Districts = Fair Elections, a coalition of many groups. Redistricting for Ohio statehouse seats passed in 2015; now, we are addressing the federal-level seats. Ohio has perhaps the worst gerrymandering in the nation; redistricting is essential to get fair representation.

The goal is to collect 300,000 signatures statewide by July 5, so we’re going to make a big push this month. Reaching that goal would get the proposal on the 2017 ballot; otherwise, it will wait until 2018.

To get involved, please reach out to the contact for your county:

Allen County: Emily Fisher has petitions and Jennifer Robertson has a schedule of events where we can gather signatures. Contact Emily by Facebook or by email; Jennifer by email. We’re going to the Lima Farmer’s Market, Rally in the Square, and more.

Hardin County: Sheila Corresel (419-494-4558) is our lead in Hardin County. You can help Sheila in many ways, including identifying sites and getting access (e.g. can we gather signatures at the library and Community Market), speaking with voters, and actually managing the petitions. Please contact Sheila to find out more.

Now is the perfect time to get involved. Help us put Ohio’s ridiculous gerrymandering in the past!

If you would like to collect petition signatures, be sure to view the online training. To learn more about redistricting and how to explain it to people, see the Fair Districts website.

It is worth mentioning that this is not a particularly controversial issue, so we hope that collecting signatures will not be that challenging. We will try to attend large-crowd events, but also go door-to-door and any place that lots of people hang out — supermarket, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, libraries.