By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
A number of Crawford County residents will soon be pounding the pavement to gather signatures for an anti-gerrymandering amendment.
The Mid-Ohio Progressives, a local grassroots organization, held an information and training session Thursday evening with a representative from the Fair Congressional Districts for Ohio. Over a dozen concerned citizens from across Crawford and surrounding counties turned out for the presentation. They learned the history of gerrymandering, how it affects voting, and how to properly collect signatures for the petition.
Debra Jeffers, a Galion resident, will be one of the people canvassing the county for signatures to place the constitutional amendment for gerrymandering reform on the ballot.
“I don’t want to be re-districted one more time,” Jeffers said frankly. “It’s confusing because you don’t know who your representatives are and that kind of thing. It’s craziness.”
“What do these people,” said Stephanie Surina, a member of Mid-Ohio Progressives, pointing to one part of a district on a map before moving to another part, “have in common with these people?”
Surina acknowledged that the gerrymandering, which is a manipulation of boundaries of an electoral constituency to favor one party, of state legislative districts was already settled a few years ago. Ohio voters overwhelmingly passed Issue 1, which set strict rules for how state legislative maps are drawn.
The aim for Thursday night was to work on the congressional districts.
“We want to kind of make it so each district has a competitive race,” Surina explained. “We’re getting a lot of people involved. A lot of people realize it’s a big issue.”
Pat Hargis, another member of the Mid-Ohio Progressives, stressed the fact that gerrymandering reform was a bipartisan issue.
“We’re trying to educate the public on the problems of gerrymandering congressional districts in the state of Ohio,” said Hargis. “It’s a non-partisan issue because, depending on who is in power, after the census those parties have been setting districts that are unfair to either side. The Democrats would gerrymander if they’re in power, the Republicans would gerrymander. It’s a non-partisan issue. I feel it’s important because if our districts are not gerrymandered, they have to listen to our voters.”
Showing a map of the Ohio Congressional Districts for 2012 through 2022, Hargis pointed out that District 4, which is served by Congressman Jim Jordan and covers Crawford County, takes on the appearance of a duck. Portions of Lorain, Erie, and Huron counties by Lake Erie form the duck’s bill while all Sandusky, Seneca and Crawford counties shape the head and throat. A portion of Marion County and all of Union, Logan, Champaign, and Shelby form the breast and abdomen, while Auglaize, Allen, and a small dot of Mercer County finish the duck’s tail in the eastern part of the state.
“I just think it would represent the people of the state of Ohio if we’re in fair districts,” Hargis said.
She was excited for the turnout for the presentation, however.
“It really seems like most of the people are willing to carry a petition and get signatures,” Hargis said. “We need a little over 300,000 signatures in the state of Ohio in order to put this on the ballot. It would be an amendment to the State Constitution.”
Hargis said circulators across the state are working to get the 305,591 needed signatures by July 5 in order to place the issue on the ballot in November. She estimated they would need 300 signatures from Crawford County residents in order to meet the benchmark of being one of the 44 out of 88 counties to place the measure on the ballot.
Anyone interested in signing a petition for gerrymandering reform or to become a circulator can contact Hargis at 419-569-6512.