Fair Districts = Fair Elections Update June 2019

​Thanks to everyone for joining our Tuesday evening webinar about the A. Philip Randolph Institute v. Householder gerrymandering lawsuit. If you weren't able to be on the call, here's a link to a recording. You can also look at the presentation slides HERE.

Breaking news! On June 5, the US Supreme Court granted the State of Ohio's request for a delay of the appeal process until July 19, 2019 (a three week extension). Although the plaintiffs would have preferred no extension, and fought against one, there is still time for making a map for the 2020 election.

You can stay up to date about all the latest twists and turns in the court case (and also see a full timeline) on the Fair Districts website.

An important decision is coming soon: We expect to hear about the NC gerrymandering (Rucho v. Common Cause) and the MD gerrymandering (Lamone v. Benisek) sometime this month. The highest court in the land has the opportunity to declare gerrymandering unconstitutional and lay down some ground rules. However, it is extremely difficult to know which way they will go and how that will affect Ohio’s case.

Here are some rough examples to illustrate the difficulty of making a solid prediction:  
1. The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) could find the maps are illegally gerrymandered but decides there is no judicial remedy;
2. SCOTUS could determines that gerrymandering isn't unconstitutional in general;
3. SCOTUS could find one of the maps unconstitutional and rule in such a narrow way that the decision doesn't impact other states;
4. SCOTUS could find both maps unconstitutional and rule in such a narrow way that the decision doesn't impact other states;
5. SCOTUS could find some districts unconstitutional and the ruling is truly narrow;
6. SCOTUS could punt, and rule on some other ground that leaves vital questions still unanswered, as it did last June in the Wisconsin case, or
7. We could win big! SCOTUS could rule gerrymandering is unconstitutional and establish standards to identify gerrymandering. It's hard to be patient while we wait to hear the next steps for the Ohio gerrymandering case, but we will do everything we can to keep you up-to-date.  

Take the Pledge: During the presentation we encouraged participants to get involved by signing the End Gerrymandering pledge and urging their Ohio legislators to do the same. We hope everyone will take the pledge and continue to spread the word about the need to support #FairMaps. Here are the links you'll need:

• Take the End Gerrymandering Pledge
• Sign up to meet with your Ohio legislator
• Join us for the #FairMaps Twitter storm on Fridays at 1pm. If you're looking for material, here's an image to share. Don’t have time? Just retweet @OhFairDistricts or search for #FairMaps and retweet your favorites.

Support the Census: Stay up to date on the Census via the Ohio Census Advocacy Coalition:

• Sign up for their newsletter
• Follow them on Twitter
• Like their Facebook page
• Show your support for a fully-funded Census

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