The Van Wert County Courthouse

Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024

Resident: vote no on State Issue 1

To the Editor,

Issue 1 deserves a decisive NO vote. Imagine a redistricting map with a narrow corridor from Toledo through Henry and Defiance Counties straight to Paulding County, but not including all of those counties. This nightmare scenario is what will happen if Issue 1 passes.

The commission would be unelected citizens who have been selected by retired unelected judges with a private hiring firm helping. This commission will have total control of the redistricting process and are not accountable to the Ohio voters or the elected legislators we have sent to Columbus. The commission has absolute authority to set their salaries and monies they think they require. Our elected officials at the State House has to give them however much they ask for, no questions asked. Ohio voters will also be restricted in their legal rights to challenge the commission’s decisions. As a true eye-opener, this commission has a lifetime appointment, and would be very difficult to recall them.

Ohio has already voted twice, in 2015 and 2018 to approve anti-gerrymandering restrictions, but out-of-state dark money to the tune of over $25 million dollars have flooded our state from Washington, D.C. and a Swiss billionaire who want to change our Constitution. You should be asking yourself, why do they care what we do in Ohio. The simple answer is they want to totally change the number of districts and the make-up of the state’s districts. This would include how many Congressmen Ohio sends to Washington, D.C.

This is why a “no” vote on Issue 1 is essential to keep gerrymandering based on politics and race out of Ohio.

Laurie Lucas

Rural Paulding

POSTED: 10/18/24 at 6:19 am. FILED UNDER: Letters to the Editor