People Not Politicians
People Not Politicians is a group initiative in Oklahoma led by Let's Fix This, the League of Women Voters of Oklahoma, and a broad coalition of concerned citizens who believe in a better democracy, starting with tackling the redistricting process. Currently, legislators get to draw their own districts, essentially picking their own voters so they can stay in office, which results in political gerrymandering. The group has filed an initiative petition and will need to collect 200,000 signatures from registered voters to get the state question on the ballot.
︎ The petition was filed in late October of 2019.
︎ The logo uses a flexible system of lines to allude to the issue of gerrymandering and the drawing of districts.
The strong type and colors updated from the Let’s Fix This, the founding org, brand colors. I updated these for accessibility and legibility as well as making them more digital-friendly.
The strong type and colors updated from the Let’s Fix This, the founding org, brand colors. I updated these for accessibility and legibility as well as making them more digital-friendly.
The campaign hosted events across the state to meet and get feedback from voters about how gerrymandering has impacted them, as well as train them on to collect signatures for the ballot initiative.
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In my contract with People Not Politicians, I do all the photography, design, and am part of the organizing team. I traveled across the state last year holding events to get people engaged with this effort.
Originally filed as SQ 804, we have had a few legal challenges to the initiative petition as people in power protect their ability to hold on and continue to draw districts for their own gain. Our first challenges were around the gist, the summary of the petition on the signature page. The Oklahoma Supreme Court heard the challenges to the petition in Febuary of 2020. They ruled that the gist needed to be rewritten, so the petition was re-filed and re-submitted soon after the ruling. Supporters showed up in 20 degree weather to demand fair districts and fair representation. With the newly-filed petition, the Court ruled to let us start collecting signatures during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Secretary of State put a stay on collection. We are now looking at collecting signatures during a worldwide pandemic and will refile with language to trigger a redistricting outside the regular 10 year cycle.
People Not Politicians will keep working until Oklahoma’s districts are fair.