In a rousing event Thursday at Trinity Cathedral that included allusions to a sports theme, a biblical story and extensive use of cell phones, Greater Cleveland Congregations officially kicked off its campaign for Issue 1, the proposed constitutional amendment intended to end gerrymandering.
Rev. Dr. Lisa Goods of Shiloh Baptist Church and GCC’s strategy team called her opening remarks the “pre-game” and said the fight against gerrymandering is “a matchup like we have never seen before in Ohio.” She likened the practice — which involves politicians drawing district boundaries in ways that increase their own party’s power — to the Steelers moving the goal posts during a game against the Browns.
“Tonight we call a flagrant foul on the politicians,” Goods shouted like a coach firing up a team, “and we have the power to eject them from the game.”
The event was intended to galvanize the members of GCC’s various congregations, who gathered about 13,000 of the more than 700,000 signatures collected statewide to get Issue 1 on the ballot in November.
To keep that momentum, the event included a half hour of “friendbanking.” All of the 150 or so attendees, and 20 people watching on Zoom, were asked to take out their phones, call or text their relatives and friends and encourage them to vote for Issue 1. As she explained the process, Evangelist Vikki Jackson suggested that everyone treat it as “a friendly competition — or not.”
Volunteers dressed in black-and-white-striped referee shirts organized the crowd into smaller groups and tallied the contacts made. The total for the half hour came to nearly 3,400. Some participants also agreed to host friendbanking sessions at their homes.
Research shows that personal appeals are more effective than traditional get-out-the-vote efforts.
“Of course the national election is important,” said Rev. James Crews of Antioch Baptist Church and the GCC strategy team. “But if Ohio doesn’t get this right, we are in trouble.”
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Goods invoked the biblical story of the Battle of Jericho, in which the Israelites marched around the stone-walled city for seven days and finally brought the walls down with their shouts and horns.
“Your yes vote on Issue 1 is your shout,” she said. “This is our opportunity to shout the walls of injustice down.”
Opponents of the issue say Ohioans already approved anti-gerrymandering measures in 2015 and again in 2018.
Issue 1 proposes a multi-step process to change redistricting, the drawing of boundaries that define the political districts for state lawmakers and members of Congress. It would replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission, a panel of elected officials (governor, auditor, secretary of state and four lawmakers) that’s currently controlled by Republicans, with a citizens’ commission that couldn’t include elected officials, lobbyists, party officials, candidates or their immediate family members.
GCC is an interfaith coalition that works for social justice. The coalition includes 38 institutions representing 40,000 residents in Cuyahoga County. Supporting Issue 1 is part of GCC’s Battle for Democracy, an ongoing effort to increase voter participation in Cleveland and inner-ring suburbs. This year GCC’s efforts also include “Voter Virginity,” an ad and outreach campaign targeting first-time voters.
