Ohio has a lot going on this week.
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Hi Friend,

 

Over the last year, our election systems have taken a beating. What used to be
a niche (albeit high profile) conspiracy theory — the Big Lie — has taken a
very real grasp on Americans’ faith in our election system:1 in 3 Americans
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believe the Big Lie. 

 

And while there is no basis to the conspiracy, the damage it’s doing to our
elections, our election administrators, and the entire notion of a free and
fair democracy is very real. 

 

How do we fight back on a lie this big? One that’s the result of increased
polarization fueled by our broken politics and an electoral system in need of
reform? We engage, we advocate, and we work to make sure that voters are put
first. 

 

Here are three things to think about this week:

The Big Lie claims a victim
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Republican Representative Anthony Gonzalez (OH-16) announced this week
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that he would not be seeking reelection in 2022. Gonzalez, who was one of 10
House Republicans to vote for impeachment after the January 6th insurrection,
has faced significant pushback from within his own party as a result of his
vote. In Gonzalez’s announcement, he cited the “toxic dynamics inside [his] own
party” as a factor in his decision. 

 

Increasingly, allegiance to party has begun to mean more than allegiance to
voters. Voters aren’t able to hold lawmakers accountable — because only 10% of
them are electing 83% of Congress. In other words: our party primary system
encourages politicians to represent a small but vocal minority of primary
voters rather than their constituents at large, meaning that when brave
representatives like Gonzalez put party over country, they are shouted down and
pushed out in favor of candidates pandering to a more extreme sliver of their
constituents. To protect our democracy, we must reform our primary election
system.



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What’s in the new federal voting bill
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September promised to be a busy month for Congress, and so far, it has not
disappointed: in the midst of debating key budget and infrastructure bills,
Congress is also in the middle of intense debate over the future of federal
voting rights legislation. The Freedom to Vote Act is the latest
Democrat-produced bill, successor to the For the People Act, and importantly
reflects a new consensus of their party — a compromise among Democrats. 


In a blog, our friends at Bipartisan Policy Center
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break down what’s changed between the bills — what’s in, and what’s out — as
well as what they believe will critically need to change in order to secure
bipartisan support of voting legislation.The new bill includes protections for
election workers, scales back certain campaign finance issues, among other
things, but comes short of what many Republicans’ would like to see on voter ID
and list maintenance, for example. Check out thefull blog here
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.



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The gerrymandering threat remains
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Across the country, states are working to draw new legislative maps as part of
their redistricting duties following the census last year. RepresentUs, in
partnership with the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, havereleased an update
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incrediblethreat index report <[link removed]>,
highlighting the differences between the heavy gerrymandering happening in Ohio
and nonpartisan commission leading the way in Colorado.   

 

To be clear — gerrymandering is happening across the country, regardless of
which party is in charge. In the latest maps approved by the Ohio redistricting
authority, Republicans have clearly gerrymandered themselves into an advantage.
Though as the report notes, similar trends are emerging in the Democrat
controlled New York and Illinois. Meanwhile, in Colorado, where an independent
redistricting commission is drawing the maps, the latest maps released have
received A’s across the board. These maps don’t simply represent Republican or
Democrat leadership in Congress or in state capitols — they represent the
ability of voters to have their voices heard and their intentions known.
Gerrymandering takes the power away from voters and hands it over to
self-interested politicians. If you’re not following your state’s redistricting
process, you need to be. Sign up for updates with thePrinceton Gerrymandering
Project <[link removed]> to stay in the know. 



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Brett
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Brett Maney
Senior Communications Manager
Unite America
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