Confused about Issue 1? You’re not alone.

Fingers pointed across the sidewalk in front of the Licking County Courthouse, where nearly 60 Licking County neighbors became political opponents over gerrymandering. 

Those fingers reach across the political aisle, pointing toward the opposite party. People from each side describe the other side as “liars.” 

Thankfully, donuts and coffee kept everyone energized for political debate.

On Wednesday, Oct. 9, the Ohio Republican Party parked a big red bus in front of the Licking County Courthouse. The bus read “VOTE NO ON ISSUE 1” and “STOP GERRYMANDERING.” The bus also was emblazoned with this message: “KEEP OHIO RED.”

Further down the sidewalk stood opposing citizens with signs that read “YES ON ISSUE 1” and “BAN GERRYMANDERING.” 

Issue 1 is a proposal to address gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is defined as the process of drawing electoral district lines in a way that gives one political party an advantage over its rivals. It often results in oddly shaped electoral districts, like Ohio House District 96 – which encompasses much of the southeastern part of the state – and Ohio House District 69, which includes Licking County. 

Issue 1 targets gerrymandering by creating a 15-member redistricting commission. Instead of elected officials drawing the maps for congressional seats and the Ohio House and Senate, a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission (OCRC) would be created to draw districts. The commission would be made up of 15 citizens: five Democrats, five Republicans, and five independent voters.

“Rather than the traditional view of democracy whereby voters choose their politicians, gerrymandering is just simply put, a system by which politicians choose their voters,” said Anthony Ives, Denison University Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Affairs.

Currently, elected officials are responsible for drawing these districts in Ohio, and the upper hand goes to the party in power, which currently is the Republican Party. Issue 1 would change this for both congressional and state legislative districts.

Matt Dole, chair of the Licking County Republican Party, welcomed the crowd surrounding the big red bus. He encouraged the crowd not to be disgruntled by the “yes-sayers.”

“Issue One is bad policy and bad government. We’re glad you stopped by for the bus tour,” Dole said. “Don’t get into any fist fights.”

Voting yes on Issue 1 would allow the appointed commission to draw electoral districts that are more balanced in terms of party representation and see that communities of interest are kept together.

Voting no on Issue 1 is a vote against the creation of the commission and would help “KEEP OHIO RED,” as the big red bus parked near the Licking County Board of Elections said. 

According to Ives and The Gerrymandering Project by FiveThirtyEight, published in 2018, Ohio is gerrymandered in favor of the Republican Party. The data show that at the time, Republicans controlled 11.1 of the 16 seats within Ohio, and Democrats held 4.2.

While there are more registered Republicans within Ohio than Democrats – about 18.7% of registered voters are Republican and 10.1% of registered voters are Democrats – that representation doesn’t shake out in federal or state offices. For example, of the 33 seats in the Ohio Senate, 26 – nearly 80% of seats – are held by Republicans. 

“Just numerically, the current house districts in Ohio are close to, but not exactly the same as an extreme Republican gerrymander. So I think an appropriate way to contextualize would be to say that it’s a somewhat extreme Republican gerrymander,” Ives said.

According to Ives, both Democrats and Republicans gerrymander. 

Alex Triantafilou, Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, said he is traveling the state to encourage people to vote “no” on Issue 1. On Wednesday, the bus started its journey in Newark and drove 163 miles northeast to Youngstown. The bus stopped in 30 counties in four days.

“We’re riding around the state of Ohio today to fix the misinformation being put out by the other side,” Triantafilou told the crowd. “They want to put gerrymandering in our state constitution.”  

Triantafilou said that Democrats are in favor of Issue 1 because it would help them win elections that otherwise they would not win in Ohio. 

“They’re trying to fix the district lines in Ohio so they can win more elections. It’s just that simple,” said Triantafilou.

Triantafilou and Troy Balderson, the current congressman in Ohio District 12, encouraged the crowd to go across the street to the Licking County Board of Elections and vote early.

“Let’s go! Let’s win Licking County! Let’s win this country back!” Balderson told the crowd.

Balderson, from Zanesville, is currently up for reelection, and is running against Democrat Jerrad Christian, of Galena. 

But Mary Miller, a resident of Hebron, said that Republicans want people to vote no on Issue 1 to dilute the blue vote. 

“Look at the bus: It says ‘stop gerrymandering.’ That’s actually what we have right now – ‘Keep Ohio Red.’ There you go. Anything they need to do to keep Ohio red – they don’t care,” Miller said.

Miller said she came to protest the bus because she is concerned about the average citizen who may not know their rights and might be confused by the issue.

“They draw lines that look worse than a bowl of spaghetti,” she said. 

Marci Fones, a supporter of Issue 1, said that she came out to show people that there is another side to the argument. 

“We wanted people to have both sides so that they can make a decision rather than be confused,” Fones said. 

Tracee Laing, president of the Licking County Democratic Club, said she protested the message on the bus as a concerned citizen, not as a Democrat. She said people get more confused with disinformation and then they are more likely to vote down the issue.  

“They are lying, and their whole campaign is about disinformation,” Laing said. “They know we will win.”

Meri Schroeder, a Granville resident, said the issue is nonpartisan, since Republicans, Democrats, and Independents will be involved in the process of drawing the district lines. Schroeder pointed out that Maureen O’Connor, a Republican and former chief justice of the Ohio State Supreme Court, is an advocate for Issue 1.

Mark Christenberry, a longtime Newark resident, attended the demonstration to support a ‘no’ vote on Issue 1.

“I believe that decisions like those [drawing of electoral districts] should not be made by people that are not elected officials,” said Christenberry.

Edwina Campbell, a lifelong Republican, came to the courthouse to encourage people to vote no on Issue 1. She said she enjoyed the political discourse and Americans need it to keep them on their toes. 

“No matter what I give them a hard time about, it’s the American way,” Campbell said. 

Andrew Theophilus and Caroline Zollinger write for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.