Thanks to all who joined the Huddle last night. Here are slides and a recording. The slides have live links, plus we are putting all the most important links for you below.

A reminder: We will have a new Zoom registration link each month for the Huddle. If you have an entry in your calendar for 6pm on Weds Sept 14, delete it and any others! It’s an old link that we are no longer using. Our next Huddle is not until October 12. 

It’s time to sign up for the Fair Districts Volunteer Appreciation Picnic: Sunday, September 18, 2-5pm, Alum Creek Park! We’re excited about hosting you and having a chance to thank you for all your hard work, your righteous anger and your determination. 

RSVP for the picnic

During the meeting, Collin Marozzi from the ACLU of Ohio updated us on the current state of affairs regarding the maps and lawsuits. Here are some useful links: 

• Current Ohio House and Ohio Senate maps.
• Current congressional map.
• Decision Neiman v. LaRose.
• Redistricting Timeline (Any suggestions? Send an email to ohfairdistricts@commoncause.org)
• “Another redistricting deadline coming up, no action expected from Ohio legislature,” Ohio Capital Journal, 8/9/2022

We also talked about the many toss up districts in these current maps and the importance of showing up to vote. 

• PER YOUR REQUEST, here are maps showing the many toss up races in the current districts—25 House  districts (20 D, 5 R), 8 Senate districts (7 D, 1R), 4 congressional districts (3D, 1R)):
  • 2022 House Districts 48-52% Competitive* (Districts 4, 5, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 23, 27, 28, 31, 32, 34, 36, 39, 41, 42, 49, 52, 58, 59, 72, 75 & 94)
  • 2022 Senate Districts 48-52% Competitive (Districts 2, 3, 6, 13, 16, 18, 24 & 27)
  • 2022 Congressional 48-52% Competitive (Districts 1, 9, 10 & 13)
  • Click HERE for a list of all the candidates running in each of these competitive districts
• The Secretary of State’s “Find My District” tool
• Questions to ask candidates about how they will protect democracy

* To make the districts easier to see, use this image to help you set the custom overlays in Dave’s Redistricting.

Catherine Turcer presented research into independent redistricting commissions in four states: 

• Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission; Arizona archived website
• 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission; California archived website
• Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions
• Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission 
• Plan Score (includes info about the efficiency gap)

Dan Vicuña from Common Cause shared a deeper dive about the Independent State Legislature theory. 

• Guardian article on independent state legislature theory
• The Legal Trick That Could Undermine the 2024 Election—If the Supreme Court Doesn’t Shut It Down, Vikram D. Amar, Time, 6/30/2022 
• The North Carolina Partisan Gerrymander Case and the Ahistorical “Independent State Legislature” (ISL) Theory, Vikram D. Amar, Verdict, 3/1/2022
• How ISL Theory Has Already (and Recently) Been Repudiated by the U.S. Supreme Court, Vikram D. Amar, Verdict, 3/2/2022
• Ohio Supreme Court power could change under ‘independent state legislature’ theory, Susan Tebben, Ohio Capital Journal, 8/1/2022 

For additional suggestions on ways to support democracy and links to request Ohio Supreme Court palm cards, Register to Vote yard signs and more, check this Common Cause Ohio Democracy Wire post. 

There is no Huddle scheduled for September because we have our Volunteer Appreciation Picnic! The next Huddle will be 10/12. Please RSVP today to join us on September 18 at Alum Creek Park for food, fun, and fellowship with your fellow fighters for fair maps, fair districts, and fair elections!