Jeniece Brock - Akron, Ohio

“There are so many Ohioans who aren’t being heard by their elected leaders because they live in gerrymandered districts where lawmakers can ignore groups of voters, often from communities of color, and still be almost guaranteed to keep their seats. That's just not how democracy should work.”

The fight for fair maps isn’t about Democrats vs. Republicans. It’s about fair representation. There are so many Ohioans who aren’t being heard by their elected leaders because they live in gerrymandered districts where lawmakers can ignore groups of voters, often from communities of color, and still be almost guaranteed to keep their seats. That's just not how democracy should work.

Unfair maps affect more than who gets elected to represent us. When we don’t have proper representation, our access to quality healthcare, education, affordable housing, and even services like public transportation suffers.

For example, it’s been very frustrating trying to find locations for testing and vaccinations during this pandemic--the closest testing location was 20 minutes away and I ended up traveling an hour and a half away for my first shot--well outside of my community. Luckily, I have access to a car, but there are plenty of folks in my community who rely on public transportation, which made it extremely difficult to access essential care at that time. If our votes determined whether or not our leaders were re-elected, you can bet those services would have been located closer to our neighborhoods.

I believe everybody should have the opportunity to engage in the democratic process. And that means being able to choose who they believe should represent them--both in Columbus and Washington, DC. But when unfair maps dilute the voting power of communities of color, many Black and Brown voters are effectively disenfranchised. It’s not enough to say that everyone can vote--democracy also requires that everyone’s vote counts equally. Gerrymandering denies voting rights to certain communities while giving preference to others, and that’s not just wrong, it’s unconstitutional. 

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. But we need to stay engaged and keep fighting to make sure this happens. Ohioans voted overwhelmingly for more transparency and fairness in 2015, and must not allow politicians to ignore that mandate.