COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Demands for fair maps and a transparent congressional redistricting process are getting louder in Ohio.

Despite a looming Oct. 31 deadline, the Ohio Redistricting Commission has as yet scheduled no public meetings on future congressional maps, so advocates are taking matters into their own hands, holding a "People's Redistricting Hearing and Rally" today outside the Statehouse.

Rev. Ray Greene, Jr., executive director of the Freedom BLOC (Black Led Organizing Collaborative), contended the current district lines do not provide fair representation.

"The government is ran by the people, and the only way that the people can run the government is to be involved in the government," Greene asserted. "We have to have grassroots leadership; we have to have our issues at the forefront of everybody's agenda. We have to demand that our elected officials do what's best for us."

Democrats on the commission are calling for public hearings, which House Speaker Republican Bob Cupp has said will "probably be scheduled in the near future." The map will have 15 congressional districts, since Ohio lost a seat in the census.

Tala Dahbour, policy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) of Ohio, said she is fighting for fair maps to ensure minority voices are empowered and part of the political process. She added for far too long, minority groups have been disenfranchised.

"The biggest mosque in Central Ohio is split between multiple congressional and state districts," Dahbour observed. "And so, any collective action taken from that Muslim community is diluted. Whatever power their voice might have had, it's now weakened through redistricting."

Meanwhile, the Ohio Redistricting Commission approved a state district map last month opponents argued solidifies a Republican supermajority in the General Assembly.

Greene thinks Black and Muslim communities will pay the price.

"We're being even more left out of the decision-making process," Greene stressed. "I haven't seen the congressional maps yet, but as far as the state House maps, we are being gentrified even more than we have been before. That's why these maps need to be deemed illegal that have been drawn at the state level."

Under the state's new redistricting process, the maps will have to be redrawn in four years, because they passed without bipartisan support. Three lawsuits alleging constitutional violations are pending, although Republican commission members maintain the maps are fair and legal.

The moment Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping elections bill into law last week, several voter-advocacy groups filed lawsuits against it.

Senate Bill 7050 creates a broad set of restrictions for third-party voter registration groups. It cuts the amount of time they have to submit voters' applications, and adds new and higher fines for late submissions.

Estee Konor - associate director of litigation with Demos, a 'think tank' that focuses on racial justice - said her group's lawsuit targets a new provision that bans any non-citizen from getting involved in voter-registration work.

Konor said it directly impacts groups she represents, such as Hispanic Federation and Poder Latinx, that have a long history of helping people register to vote.

"And really what this law does is," said Konor, "it is an attack on the ability of Floridians - regardless of their immigration status - to participate in the democratic process of civic engagement."

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Lawrence McClure - R-Dover - said the bill is meant to hold voter-registration groups to high standards and protect voters' personal information.

Groups like the League of Women Voters and other plaintiffs are also suing, claiming the law is unconstitutional and violates the First and 14th amendments.

Konor said all Floridians, including non-citizens, have the right to participate in the work of building a better democracy. She claimed the law is a brazen attempt to shut down voter registration work in those communities.

"If an organization violates this law in any way, even if they do so by mistake, they will be fined $50,000 per person that has violated the law," said Konor, "and there is no limit."

The new law also requires those organizations to provide voter registration applicants with a receipt detailing the voter's personal information.

According a study by University of Florida Political Science Professor Daniel Smith, Florida voters of color are five times more likely than white voters in the state to register to vote through third-party civic engagement groups.

Support for this reporting was provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.




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Washingtonians will soon find it even easier to register to vote.

Passed this session, Senate Bill 5112 automatically makes people applying for enhanced driver's licenses eligible to vote.

Alex Alston, consultant for the Washington Voting Justice Coalition, said a number of communities in the state will benefit from the legislation.

"We know that Black and brown communities and folks with socio-economic barriers are often those who are left out of the system," Alston pointed out. "Moving towards a more automatic voter registration system is something that the state's been working towards."

While Washington has made it easy to vote in many respects, including with all-mail elections, lawmakers say nearly 1 million eligible Washingtonians are not registered. After registering them, the state will send a notice in the mail giving people the chance to opt out.

The measure only applies automatic voter registration to people who prove their U.S. citizenship. Alston noted it ensures people not eligible to vote are not inadvertently signed up.

"We don't want inadvertent mistakes that would have negative immigration consequences for someone or their families," Alston emphasized.

Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Massachusetts, Nevada and Oregon have adopted similar automatic registration measures. The law goes into effect July 23.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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Local activists will rally in Boston Common tomorrow to urge Congress to lift the debt ceiling without cuts to social programs in return.

President Joe Biden has rejected a House bill which would have raised the debt limit but cut spending on programs Democrats deem vital to working families.

Debbie Paul, chairperson of the Indivisible Massachusetts Coalition, said lawmakers have a duty to raise the debt ceiling without restrictions.

"Negotiating on budget is done at budget time, not when it comes to raising the debt ceiling," Paul argued. "Because that applies to spending that has already been approved and monies that have been spent."

Paul added local activists will rally to support Massachusetts' Democrats, including Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., to resist what they call "extremist MAGA demands," which could send the U.S. into a historic default. Republicans say it is irresponsible to burden future generations with increasing amounts of debt.

House Republicans are seeking more work requirements for people who receive federal nutrition assistance and Medicaid benefits who do not have children, which they claim would help with the nation's worker shortage.

Paul countered those types of cuts would jeopardize some of the most vulnerable citizens in the Commonwealth.

"They want to do away with some more food subsidies for children," Paul pointed out. "They want to do away with energy assistance programs for the elderly."

Paul added the Indivisible Massachusetts Coalition would support President Biden using his constitutional authority to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling, which now stands at more than $31 trillion. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Congress needs to reach a deal by June 1 before the U.S. can no longer pay its bills.