"What can I do to stop gerrymandering?"

We’ve received a number of inquiries from Hoosiers asking, “Okay, now that you’ve educated me about how gerrymandering really works and its effect on Indiana’s poor civic health, what can I do?”

First, you can attend one or both of the two hearings scheduled by the House Elections Committee. The first is Wednesday, September 15, from 1-5 p.m. The second is Thursday, September 16; it begins at 10 a.m. and will run until testimony is concluded. Both will be held in the House of Representatives chamber on the third floor of the Statehouse. Both will be webcast.

For those able to be in Indianapolis on Thursday, there will be a rally following the hearing outside the Statehouse on the Washington Street (south) side.

The remaining schedule for moving the redistricting bill through the House of Representatives is:

Sept. 20: House Elections and Apportionment Committee to review any amendments and vote on proposed maps in a 10 a.m. meeting, sending the legislation to the full House.
Sept. 22: Indiana House to vote on proposed U.S. House and Indiana House maps on second reading.
Sept. 23: Indiana House to vote on proposed U.S. House and Indiana House maps on third reading, sending the legislation to the Indiana Senate.

The schedule in the State Senate is:

Sept. 21: Initial drafts of proposed Indiana Senate maps to be posted at iga.in.gov.
Sept. 27: Senate Elections Committee to hold public hearing on proposed Indiana Senate maps.
Sept. 28: Senate Elections Committee to vote on proposed maps, sending the legislation to the full Senate.
Sept. 30: Indiana Senate to vote on proposed maps on second reading.
Oct. 1: Indiana Senate to vote on proposed maps on third reading.

There are several nonpartisan organizations taking concrete action to urge the General Assembly to draw fair maps. All welcome volunteers. In alphabetical order, they are:

ACLU of Indiana

info@aclu-in.org

Citizens Action Coalition

Lindsay Haake |lshipps@citact.org

Bryce Gustafson | bgustafson@citact.org

If you live in Northwest Indiana, there are several organizations that care about fair maps:

Baptist Ministers Conference of Gary and Vicinity

Pastor Corey Jackson | cdjackson1977@yahoo.com

NAACP Gary Branch

Steve Mays | scmays1@sbcglobal.net

National Council of Negro Women – Gary Chapter

Chanel Woods | ncnw@sbcglobal.net

The Links of Northern Indiana

Alesia Pritchett | aypritchett@aol.com

UNCF – NWI Indiana Leadership Council

Shelice Tolbert | stolbert@tolbertlegal.com

Urban League of NWI

Dr. Vanessa Allen-McCloud | vallen@ulofnwi.org

YWCA of NWI

Caren Jones | Cjones@ywcanwi.org

Am I registered to vote?

“What can I do to stop gerrymandering?”

We’ve received a number of inquiries from Hoosiers asking, “Okay, now that you’ve educated me about how gerrymandering really works and its effect on Indiana’s poor civic health, what can I do?”

For those able to be in Indianapolis on Thursday, there will be a rally following the hearing outside the Statehouse on the Washington Street (south) side.

The remaining schedule for moving the redistricting bill through the House of Representatives is:

Sept. 20: House Elections and Apportionment Committee to review any amendments and vote on proposed maps in a 10 a.m. meeting, sending the legislation to the full House.

Sept. 22: Indiana House to vote on proposed U.S. House and Indiana House maps on second reading.

Sept. 23: Indiana House to vote on proposed U.S. House and Indiana House maps on third reading, sending the legislation to the Indiana Senate.

The schedule in the State Senate is:

Sept. 21: Initial drafts of proposed Indiana Senate maps to be posted at iga.in.gov.

Sept. 27: Senate Elections Committee to hold public hearing on proposed Indiana Senate maps.

Sept. 28: Senate Elections Committee to vote on proposed maps, sending the legislation to the full Senate.

Sept. 30: Indiana Senate to vote on proposed maps on second reading.

Oct. 1: Indiana Senate to vote on proposed maps on third reading.