- Title: PERSONAL: 76-year old continues her 43 year fight to end gerrymandering in Ohio
- Date: 2nd November 2024
- Summary: CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES, November 2, 2024, Reuters ANTI-GERRYMANDERING ACTIVIST, DR. KAREN LEITH, HANDING OUT FLYERS TO PEOPLE AT THE POLLING STATION CLOSE-UP OF A FLYER READING (English) “YES ON 1"/PAN TO LEITH´S FACE LEITH TRYING TO HAND OUT FLYERS TO PEOPLE WALKING BY BADGE CLIPPED TO LEITH´S T-SHIRT READING (English) “MAKING DEMOCRAY WORK FOR 100 YEARS” AND “LEA
- Embargoed: 16th November 2024 23:19
- Keywords: Dr. Karen Leith Election Gerrymandering Issue One Ohio canvassing
- Location: CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- City: CLEVELAND, OHIO, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: North America,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA001669602112024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Ohio residents are not only voting for president in the upcoming election, but are also voting to end gerrymandering - the process of redefining voting district lines so political parties can maintain power.
However, voters in "The Buckeye State" are confused at the polls after the bill was made confusing by the Republican-controlled ballot board.
Enter Dr. Karen Leith.
On Saturday (November 2) she was out, as usual, canvassing people arriving to vote in the hope of clarifying how to vote on the bill.
In 1981, Leith started one of the first petitions against gerrymandering and she is determined to see the process banned.
Ohio is the most gerrymandered state in the United States. It's not uncommon for immediate neighbors to be divided by district lines or for politicized communities to be separated to diminish their voting power.
Leith was keen to point out that it is both political parties in the United States carrying out gerrymandering.
"Looking at maps, they (politicians) know just about what each area tends to vote. So, they are able to actually get it even down to an address. So they can choose how they draw the lines to make sure people with certain tendencies to vote certain ways are built into a district," Leith said.
This could all change with the Citizens Not Politicians Amendment, also known as Issue One.
If the amendment passes, an independent citizens redistricting commission would be set up and it would comprise of five Democrats, five Republicans and five independents, who would agree on district lines.
Although this has been attempted in the past, Leith is hopeful this year will be the end of gerrymandering in Ohio.
"I think this time, though, we have reached a lot more people because there's a lot more issues that have come up where the majority of the people feel one way and the politicians have voted the other. So, we're seeing lots more people understand for the first time, that unless we change the way we draw maps, unless we have competitive districts, we are not going to hear the things we want in terms of education and health care and mental health and, you know, even taxes, funding of public schools," she said.
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