Voices of Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islanders diced up in Ohio

Tika Adhikari is a former Bhutanese refugee and Ohio voter in Pickerington. She is the civic engagement and immigration organizer with OPAWL — Building AAPI Feminist Leadership.

Two years ago, I didn’t know anything about gerrymandering.

I had never heard that term before, let alone understood the concept behind “packing” and “cracking” districts so that politicians get to choose their voters. I didn’t learn about gerrymandering until I started working at OPAWL — Building AAPI Feminist Leadership in 2022.

As I’ve learned more about Ohio politics through working at OPAWL and volunteering for political candidates and citizen-led issue campaigns, I’ve seen how the concept of “one person, one vote” fails under unethical gerrymandering.

Yet, gerrymandering is a sneaky issue that can be hard for voters — especially non-native English speakers — to understand. It can be difficult to explain how electoral votes are manipulated to favor one political party.

Gerrymandering impacts members of my community

That’s why OPAWL set out to educate our Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander members across Ohio about the harms of gerrymandering, providing resources for them to share with their communities.

OPAWL joined the Equal Districts coalition and provided testimony during the redistricting process in 2022. Now, we’ve entered another stage of the redistricting fight, with the Citizens Not Politicians amendment.

As the civic engagement organizer at OPAWL, as a member of the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander community — specifically the Bhutanese-Nepali community — and as an Ohio voter, I strongly support the creation of fair maps, drawn by citizens, that keep elections competitive and communities intact.

My community’s power has been sliced, diced and diluted

As AAPI Ohioans, we have a particularly high stake in ending gerrymandering. Central Ohio is home to the largest Bhutanese-Nepali community in the world outside of Asia, a total of approximately 28,000+ resettled refugees — of which I am one.

By cracking AAPI voters into multiple districts in recent maps, legislators have blatantly attempted to dilute the political power of the AAPI community and denied us fair political representation.

As a result, my community’s unique concerns and challenges are rarely prioritized by policymakers.

The AAPI community is one of the fastest growing racial and ethnic demographic groups in Ohio and the country.

People of Asian or Pacific Islander descent now comprise 7.2% of the national population based on 2020 Census data. In Ohio, the Asian population grew by 58.3% and the Pacific Islander population grew by 44.2% between 2010 and 2020.

We need fair maps that minimize the division of AAPI communities so that the interests of the growing population of AAPI Ohioans are fully represented.

Leaders shouldn’t pick their voters in Ohio

All voters, including AAPI voters, have a right to choose their leaders in this representative democracy — not the other way around. Our communities should be fairly and equally represented and deserve better than the maps that violated Ohio’s constitution and were drawn by politicians behind closed doors in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

An independent citizen commission, as proposed by Citizens Not Politicians, would ensure AAPI communities — and all communities — have a fair and equal opportunity to elect rightful candidates who truly represent their interests.

More:Immigrants are helping drive Columbus’ population growth and its economy, say experts

OPAWL members are helping to collect signatures to put the Citizens Not Politicians amendment on the ballot, and if it qualifies, we’ll be organizing in our communities until Election Day to make sure our neighbors and loved ones know what’s at stake for the AAPI community and Ohio voters.

We’re ready to put citizens in charge of the map-making process so that we can end gerrymandering in Ohio and give the AAPI community the fair political representation we deserve and have long been denied.

Tika Adhikari is a former Bhutanese refugee and Ohio voter in Pickerington. She is the civic engagement and immigration organizer with OPAWL — Building AAPI Feminist Leadership. OPAWL is a multi-ethnic, intersectional feminist grassroots community organization.

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