Petition
Sign the Petition: Fair Maps for Rhode Island
Our elections should represent the interests of voters and communities of Rhode Island rather than the interests of politicians. Rhode Island voters deserve fair and inclusive electoral maps, not ones manipulated for partisan or personal advantage.
Common Cause Rhode Island continuously prioritizes ethical, accessible, effective, and accountable government. Creating an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) would further these goals and benefit the Ocean State by allowing Rhode Island voters to actively redraw the state’s electoral maps. Implementing an independent and nonpartisan commission to redistrict state electoral maps would curb the process of political gerrymandering in Rhode Island and help keep the power in the hands of Rhode Islanders.
Effective IRCs use public hearings and community input to ensure that the new electoral maps fairly and accurately represent all the residents of, and communities in, our state. An IRC in Rhode Island would create voter-centric elections that stop the manipulation of electoral maps for political gain and assure voters that their electoral participation matters.
The General Assembly must pass legislation to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot allowing Rhode Island voters to create an Independent Redistricting Commission. Join Common Cause Rhode Island in encouraging our legislators to make this change and help Rhode Island achieve fair and accurate representation through our electoral districts!
Rhode Island voters should pick our leaders — leaders should not get to pick and choose their voters. But entrenched gerrymandering practices allow politicians to draw maps that grow their power at the expense of the communities they’re elected to serve.
Independent Redistricting Commissions strengthen our democracy by putting the power to draw electoral maps back in the hands of the people. Drawing voting districts that balance the interests of many different communities in a transparent and nonpartisan way is a challenge but is essential to a properly functioning democracy.
It is time to end gerrymandering in Rhode Island. Sign the petition asking the General Assembly to establish an Independent Redistricting Commission!