We unpacked how gerrymandering affects Ohio’s elections and what we can do about it.

At “Map Craft: The Art of Gerrymandering,” participants took part in fun, interactive games designed to show exactly how political maps shape our votes and our voice. Attendees were a combo of democracy-enthusiasts and others just curious about why their vote might not count the same as their neighbor’s.

“Gerrymandering is something Ohioans hear a lot about. But we the people have a lot more influence over the future of our state than we might realize,” said Ohio Ballot Protection co-chair Laura Lucarelli. “Come down and learn what you can do to change the system,” she said prior to the event.

This community event was a collaboration between the SouthWest Unitarian Universalist Church and Ohio Ballot Protection, a grassroots group committed to building understanding and inspiring meaningful action around restoring voter confidence in Ohio.

Recap:
an eye-opening
(and cookie-fueled) conversation about how district lines are drawn — and redrawn — to serve power instead of
the people

" We at SouthWest Unitarian Universalist Church are proud to host this educational event because inclusive and fair democratic processes are crucial for building communities where all can flourish”

~ Rev. Ali Peters, Minister, SouthWest Unitarian Universalist Church

“Wonderful event with really thoughtful and engaging displays.”

~Nora, attendee

“I look forward to being part of future events!”

~Amber, volunteer

“I love the game - that helped a lot.”

~Anonymous attendee

“(This) is so needed, I wish you well as you go forward.”

~Carol, attendee

Highlights

We talked about had issue 1 (The Citizens Redistricting Commission Initiative) passed last year, we would not be looking at such a lopsided map.

The map itself was prominently on display with notes on district shifting.

This provided us an opportunity to introduce “How Ohio’s Ballot Initiative process Works”.

This high-level summary of the citizen ballot initiative process – and its roadblocks – will be the foundation of townhalls we plan to present throughout Ohio next year.

We created a large-scale “game” of gerrymandering, so attendees could draw the lines of a hypothetical 55% purple majority/45% yellow minority state. They individually chose their goal: 1) help the underdog (yellow), 2) go greedy with purple takes as much as they can grab or 3) create fair districts.

Plus, cookies.