Sign up to restore voter voice in Ohio
The nonpartisan Citizens Not Politicians coalition, which includes the League of Women Voters and Common Cause Ohio, has started to collect over 413,000 valid signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment for Ohio’s November, 2024 ballot. The goal is to stop partisan gerrymandering in Ohio. This is a wonderful opportunity for the Diocese of Southern Ohio to demonstrate the Episcopal Church’s longstanding commitment to civil rights and the principle of one person, one vote. We are being asked by Citizens Not Politicians to organize faith-based teams in the cities and counties where we have congregations.
Please email me if you can help. Volunteer roles include:
- Recruiting and coordinating teams
- Collecting signatures
- Office work validating signatures
- Organizing events and find locations.
- Give short speeches at events.
The statewide campaign is building a calendar of public events like music and art festivals, parades, sports events, and so forth. They will have petition booklets, a hub to return them (in Cincinnati, that’s the League office at Mt. Auburn). They will also train volunteers via Zoom.
Citizens not Politicians’ next Zoom petition-circulator training is Dec. 12 at 3 pm. Register here.
Fair Districts Ohio is holding its next All-Volunteer Huddle Dec. 13 at 6 pm. Register here.
When elected officials control redistricting, they have a built-in conflict of interest to preserve their power and majority. This is true of both parties. When they create “safe” instead of competitive districts, the most ideological members of the dominant party in that district are most likely to vote in the primary, which determines the winner instead of the general election. This leads to legislatures made up of people increasingly loth to find middle ground. Gerrymandering has fueled the dysfunction in Congress and the seemingly endless bills that go against the majority views of voters on racial justice, public education, climate solutions, and gun safety.
If you have leadership/management skills to shepherd these teams, foster friendships, and celebrate milestones, you could accomplish a great deal to build civic hope and engagement. There’s a great passion for protecting democracy among Episcopalians. You could engage other faiths as well as faith-based community service agencies. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the universities and colleges in our communities to help young citizens rebuild hope in American democracy. Many students reported trouble with voting in November and were forced to submit provisional ballots. It would be so powerful if they could contribute to and experience a success next year.
EquaSion’s powerful statement on the Israel-Hamas War
As hate speech and violence against both Jews and Palestinians escalate in the United States, the Greater Cincinnati interfaith coalition EquaSion, which organizes the region’s annual Festival of Faith, has put out a compelling call to action to be upstanders in this crisis. You can read it here and use the link to share it with your congregation and communities. Episcopalian Chip Harrod, who has led interfaith work in Cincinnati for decades, is EquaSion’s Executive Director.
SB 83 doesn’t have votes to pass in the Ohio House
The bill to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion training at Ohio’s public colleges and universities, and to prevent faculty from favoring any one position on “controversial topics” passed the Ohio Senate but will not be brought up for a floor vote in the Ohio House. “It doesn’t have the votes,” House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill), told reporters.
“When asked if the bill was completely done or if he would still be trying to move it forward, Stephens laughed, ‘Well, I don’t know that I’m trying,’” reports Morgan Trau of the Ohio Capital Journal. “The speaker has never been the biggest fan of the legislation and has made it clear for months that caucus members were not all on board. ‘I think there are a lot of concerns with that bill from both sides of the aisle, frankly,’ Stephens added.”
“Senate Bill 83 contains a wide-ranging set of rules for public colleges and universities, including bans on most diversity training and new requirements that alternative viewpoints on such topics as climate policies, immigration and abortion are discussed,” reports Inside Climate News. “The bill faced intense opposition from faculty, students, environmental groups and unions, leading to hours-long hearings over several months.”
Despite many amendments, “a provision dealing with “controversial beliefs or policies” remained in the bill, which helped to inspire resistance from people who teach and study science; they warned that Ohio’s public colleges and universities would be impaired in their ability to teach climate science,” Inside Climate News’s Dan Gearino continues.
“The bill says “faculty and staff shall allow and encourage students to reach their own conclusions about all controversial beliefs or policies and shall not seek to inculcate any social, political, or religious point of view.’
“The bill then lists examples of controversial topics, including ‘climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.’”
Advocacy briefings are compiled by Ariel Miller, a longtime community advocate and member of Ascension & Holy Trinity, Wyoming. Connect with her at arielmillerwriter@gmail.com
