AKRON -- This week, the Ohio Supreme Court heard oral argument in the three challenges to the state district maps -- maps that were drawn with blatant disregard for the Ohio Constitution and the will of Ohio voters. My organization, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, is suing the Ohio Redistricting Commission to hold our leaders accountable. They have broken the law. The motivation? Rigging Ohio’s elections in favor of the Republican Party for the next four years.
These illegal maps’ extreme gerrymandering leaves me and tens of thousands of Black and brown Ohioans without the voice we deserve in our state government. That means fewer resources for our communities, with potentially devastating impacts on our lives.
That’s why I was standing right outside the courthouse alongside many other Ohioans who have joined the three lawsuits. We all deserve a do-over. We all deserve maps that are legal, and fair.
Over the past decade, communities of color have been responsible for Ohio’s population growth, but you wouldn’t know it from the adopted maps, which continue to “crack and pack” our communities into districts that weaken our voices and political power in Columbus. It’s not enough to say that everyone can vote -- democracy also requires that everyone’s vote counts equally. Partisan gerrymandering denies voting rights to certain communities while giving preference to others, and that’s not just wrong, it’s unconstitutional.
As a native of Summit County who lives on the East Side of Akron in House District 35, I can tell you that partisan gerrymandering has hurt our community’s access to basic state services, including COVID-19 testing and vaccination locations -- especially in early 2021, when vaccines started to become available amid surging numbers of infections. Vaccines were more available in areas with higher percentages of white residents, unlike my community, which is predominantly Black. I shared the Summit County Public Health Department’s list of COVID-19 vaccine locations with my state representative to illustrate this disparity and advocate for an equitable solution.
I had to travel well outside my district to get my first shot in April 2021. That’s not fair, and it’s bad for my community’s health and our entire state. If our votes determined who held power in Columbus, you can bet those services would have been located closer to my community.
If our voices were truly represented, not only would health care be more accessible, but our neighborhood schools would have more resources, including pre-kindergarten programs on par with the rest of the country. If our voices were truly represented, average incomes would be higher and fewer people would be forced to choose between paying rent and paying for groceries. And if our voices were truly represented, politicians would have to address these issues in our community in order to earn our votes and get elected.
Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to limit partisan gerrymandering of state legislative districts in 2015. But we’re not getting what we voted for. The Ohio Redistricting Commission ignored the state constitution’s protections against gerrymandering, adopting unfair maps designed to guarantee a veto-proof Republican supermajority in both chambers of the General Assembly for at least the next four years, at the expense of Black and brown voters.
Jeniece Brock is the policy & advocacy director for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.
We’ve got to get this right. Ohioans deserve a system of representation that truly represents us. This is not about political parties — it’s about basic fairness and ensuring fair representation for all. We must fight to make this inherently unfair system more accessible and responsive so every Ohioan has a say in policies that impact our everyday lives.
Fair maps allow us to choose the candidates who best represent our needs, which in turn strengthens our communities and enables us to increase our contributions to our state. This week’s state Supreme Court argument was a crucial moment in the fight for fair maps, and we must make our voices heard — this week and beyond.
Jeniece Brock was born and raised in Akron, and is the policy and advocacy director for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and vice chair of the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission.
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