(COLUMBUS, OHIO 11/17/2021) — On Friday, Nov. 12, the Ohio Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) joined other organizations of the Equal Districts Coalition at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
Amina Barhumi, CAIR-Ohio’s Outreach Director and a member of the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, testified before a joint committee in opposition to the proposed Senate map in Senate Bill 258.
“Congressional districts should be drawn to protect Ohio’s communities by keeping them together as much as practically possible and in line with the constitutional requirements to minimize the splitting of counties, townships, and cities. The overwhelming consensus of opinion throughout the 12 public hearings convened by the Citizens Commission to discuss how maps should be drawn was that, to the greatest extent possible, district boundaries should keep communities together. Accordingly, our Citizens Commission map drew district boundaries in a manner that minimized the splitting of counties, cities, and townships, in accord with constitutional requirements,” said Barhumi.
On Tuesday, Nov. 16, the Equal Districts Coalition continued its push for fair congressional maps with a press conference at the Statehouse. CAIR-Ohio Community Affairs Director Whitney Siddiqi spoke alongside coalition partners to call on legislators to oppose any map that is not fair and representative of the communities in Ohio.
“It is critical that the Muslim community – a community that so often experiences institutional discrimination and is so often either ignored or vilified by elected officials – has access to fair representation and our votes are not diluted through gerrymandering. We refuse to settle for a map that cheats us and so many other minority communities out of equal districts,” said Siddiqi.
In addition to the press conference, CAIR-Ohio staff members and community members participated in the Equal Districts Advocacy Day at the Statehouse, in which they met with Ohio House Representatives to urge them to vote no on SB 258 and any map that does not accurately represent Ohioans.
Watch Amina Barhumi’s full testimony here.
Watch the Equal Districts Coalition Press Conference here.
Additional redistricting resources and information can be found here.
For questions, contact CAIR-Ohio Community Affairs Director Whitney Siddiqi: wsiddiqi@cair.com | 513-281-8200
