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For Immediate Release 08/16/2024
Today, the Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Ballot Board released their summary language for Issue 1, which will appear on the November ballot. Once again, Secretary LaRose has demonstrated a blatant inability to perform his duties impartially. The language presented to voters is a deliberate misrepresentation of the ballot initiative, designed to mislead voters and manipulate the system to favor the gerrymandered Republican supermajority in our state.
While organizers are pursuing legal avenues to address this manipulation, supporters of democratic reform must now work tirelessly to ensure that this deception does not unfairly influence the outcome of the election. The Ohio GOP has repeatedly shown they cannot be trusted to draw fair districts that reflect the will of the voters. The Ohio Supreme Court has found their maps to violate state provisions multiple times, and the current maps were only agreed upon when it became clear that the GOP would persist in their unlawful interference without facing legal consequences.
The only true solution to this issue is to remove politicians from the redistricting process and establish clear legal standards for fairness—precisely what Issue 1 aims to achieve. The Ohio GOP has aggressively attacked this citizen-led amendment because they fear facing voters in fairly drawn districts where they must win elections based on the merits of their policies.
GOP politicians, including my opponent, have tried to discredit this effort by focusing on out-of-state donations. However, more than 731,000 Ohioans signed petitions to place this issue before voters. Moreover, GOP politicians have no problem with out-of-state influence when it benefits them. Politicians like my opponent often rely on groups like Americans for Prosperity, which is heavily funded by Koch Industries, the DeVos Family Foundation, The Bradley Foundation, and hedge fund manager Robert Mercer—all based outside Ohio. Additionally, the Center for Christian Virtue, a prominent Ohio lobbyist group, isn’t required to disclose its donors, yet it has direct access to most Ohio GOP lawmakers, consulting on, if not directly drafting, right-wing legislation that includes school voucher expansion, discrimination against LGBTQ students, and suppression of minority rights.
Ohio deserves better than the GOP’s manipulation of our democracy and civil rights. We will only achieve fair representation when we expose their deception and remove them from the redistricting process. That is why Issue 1 is such a crucial step in returning control of our government to the citizens and out of the hands of corrupt politicians who have repeatedly defied Supreme Court rulings against their illegal districts.
Arienne Childrey
Candidate for Ohio House of Representatives
District 84
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