Issue 1: What does it mean to you? Fair elections? Protecting reproductive freedom? The right to have your voice heard and respected? For many years I have felt like my vote, and my voice, was never heard in Lima. The gerrymandering of our state has taken our voices away.
Lawmakers elected under illegal maps make veto-proof majorities, restricting the will of the people. Unpopular bills like House Bill 68 get passed despite thousands of Ohioans speaking against them. Voting Yes on Issue 1 will end partisan gerrymandering so that citizens, not politicians, draw our maps for fair representation and end these dangerous laws.
My community faces attacks daily, whether in TV ads or harassed in public. Each day our LGBTQ community grows smaller. Discriminatory bills contribute to rising violence against vulnerable communities. Conservative legislators provoke discrimination against their constituents. We must change before we lose more friends and family.
Anti-trans attacks are pushed by conservatives to scapegoat members of the LGBTQ community. The majority of Americans support equal protection and want policies to improve the cost of living and health care access. Conservatives do not have any plans to protect us.
The power that some politicians hold because they’ve gerrymandered our state is unconstitutional and downright dirty. The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled our electoral maps illegal seven times, yet politicians draw the maps to stay in power. They use outrageously confusing and misleading words on our ballots to make sure that we don’t understand that what they’re doing isn’t right.
It’s time that we stand up for fair elections and empower citizens over politicians. Vote Yes on Issue 1 to make change happen.
Van Hawkins
Lima
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