Listen: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/americandemocracyminute/episodes/2022-05-11T08_01_15-07_00

Check out organizations working on redistricting in our featured states today:
Ohio:   Fair Maps Ohio
South Carolina:  ACLU SC & South Carolina Conference of the NAACP
New Hampshire:  Open Democracy Action & League of Women Voters NH

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping your government by and for the people.

We have a mixed bag of updates on redistricting from Ohio, South Carolina & New Hampshire today.

We reported that in Ohio, the redistricting maps for Ohio House & Senate made by the state’s redistricting commission were struck down in April by the Ohio Supreme Court.  Then, a federal court gave the state a deadline of May 28th to redraw the maps, but despite an attempt to broker a deal by Governor Mike DeWine, the redistricting commission adjourned without a plan for redrawing the maps.   The federal court’s directive was to create new maps, or default to another Republican plan already found unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Next to South Carolina, where a settlement will allow a redrawing of the state legislative maps for five counties to allow majority minority communities to elect candidates more reflective of the population.   The suit had argued that the gerrymandered maps diluted Black voting power in violation of the 14th and 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Finally to New Hampshire, where Governor Chris Sununu signed badly gerrymandered NH Senate and Executive Council maps, despite his claims he would veto unfair maps.    The NH Senate map was engineered to create a veto-proof majority for Republicans in an almost equally-divided state.  New Hampshire has yet to settle its gerrymandered Congressional districts. 

We have links to organizations working on Democracy issues in these states at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org.

Granny D said, “Democracy is not  something we have, it’s something we DO.” 

For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.