Many people think their vote doesn’t matter — and with good reason. After all, our congressional districts are drawn so that regardless of where you live, your representative in Congress will always govern the same way. Elections aren’t competitive anymore; often, a person will hold office until they’re replaced by someone of the same political party.
This May, you can vote to change all that.
On the ballot will be Issue 1 — also known as redistricting reform. This amendment to Ohio’s Constitution will create a bipartisan commission to redraw our state’s congressional districts in a way that fairly represents the views of all Ohioans, as opposed to just the ones whose party is in power. This amendment strongly encourages Republicans and Democrats to cooperate and includes rules to keep counties together and districts compact.
The amendment would do essentially the same thing as the state redistricting reform that Ohioans passed by an overwhelming 71 percent in 2015, which also had support from both parties. Both the Ohio Democratic Party and the Ohio Republican Party have endorsed Issue 1.
When you go to vote this May, you will have an opportunity to cast a vote that does matter. If you want our elections to be fair, I urge you to vote for democracy by voting yes on Issue 1.
Kerry Bush, Bluffton
