In November, Ohio residents will have an opportunity to vote on Issue 1, a constitutional amendment that would finally abolish the state’s extreme partisan gerrymandering. Voters will not, however, be informed of this fact on the ballot. Instead, the Ohio Supreme Court’s Republican majority ruled Monday that the amendment will be described in egregiously misleading terms on the ballot itself, with ultra-biased language designed to turn citizens against it. Incredibly, a proposal that would end gerrymandering will be framed as a proposal to require gerrymandering, a patently false representation of its intent and effect. The court’s 4–3 decision marks yet another effort to subvert democracy in Ohio by Republicans who fear that the citizenry—when given a voice on the matter—might dare to loosen their stranglehold on power.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/09/ohio-supreme-court-voter-fraud-gop.html

  • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Three things you can do without spending any money:

    Vote in every election.

    Talk to your family and friends and coworkers about politics. Make it OK to share your thoughts on current events, and challenge the people around you when their ideas are problematic. Most of all, encourage everyone to vote.

    Volunteer. Support a campaign by phone banking or writing postcards or working at the polls or driving voters who wouldn’t otherwise have access to the polls.

    • zbyte64@awful.systems
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      3 months ago

      If any of this sound overwhelming it’s because time is money. Find a community that can help you have more quality time that doesn’t involve spending money: D&D, nonthiestic church, yoga at the library, or crafting popup at the maker space. It’s an investment in your own energetic capacity and will make all of the parent’s ideas for political involvement more achievable.

      • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 months ago

        hell or find a local canvassing group or something like that, they most likely need people on the ground, either at events or door knocking. If you’re worried about it being overwhelming these things are great options. You might even be able to coordinate if that’s up your sleeve but that’s probably more overwhelming lol.

        local political groups are ironically pretty chill.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I do vote every election and I guess I should clarify: Ohio is a direct democracy with an unaccountable legislature and a brain drain spiral. It’s how we have marijuana, abortion, multiple anti gerrymandering laws that have been ignored by the legislature, all sorts of stupid unpopular laws, and a tendency towards moderate Republican governors.

    • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      Talk to your family and friends and coworkers about politics. Make it OK to share your thoughts on current events, and challenge the people around you when their ideas are problematic. Most of all, encourage everyone to vote.

      talk to them about bi partisan issues btw. Shit like voter reform, everybody wants more representation, shit like voter security (the thing in georgia) anything that you can find common ground on you should be talking about.

      And remember, it’s important to respect people who do things that are admirable. As much of a cunt as mike pence may be, the dude stopped jan 6th single handedly, and i will never be able to thank him enough for that.