• Events
  • About
    • About
    • Board and Staff
    • Advisory Council
    • Our Founder, Granny D
    • Internship Opportunities
  • Learn
    • Learn
    • National Organizations
    • Solutions
  • Take Action
    • Take Action
    • Join Us!
    • Volunteer
    • Open Democracy Book Club
    • NH Map-a-Thon Citizen-Drawn Voting District Project
    • A Healthy Democracy is Good Business
  • News
    • News
    • Blog
  • DONATE
    • DONATE
    • givingtuesday
Facebook Twitter Or sign in with email Don't have an account? Register now
  • Home »
  • Take Action »
  • NH Map-a-Thon Citizen-Drawn Voting District Project

NH Map-a-Thon - Citizen Mapping Project Action Page

 

GET INVOLVED

All Granite Staters are entitled to fair voting districts so their needs are properly represented.   But factions in New Hampshire's legislature may cheat and manipulate the maps for partisan purposes.  If you want fair voting district maps for New Hampshire, it's time to get involved!  

Here are some ways to get involved:

  • Get connected with the movement by signing up below!

  • Join an upcoming Map-a-Thon meeting:    https://www.opendemocracynh.org/calendar 

  • Contact the Special Committee on Redistricting:  https://www.opendemocracyaction.org/redistrictingcommittee

  • If your town is 3,444 population or higher and doesn't have a constitutionally-guaranteed exclusive state representative, ask your select board members why!  Then ask them to contact the Special Committee on Redistricting.

  • Write a letter to the editor asking for a fair redistricting process  (Samples)   Coming Soon

  • Attend a Special Committee on Redistricting Meeting:    http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/committeedetails.aspx?id=1532

  • Write to Governor Sununu and remind him of his past statements that he would veto any gerrymandering maps https://www.governor.nh.gov/contact-us/opinion

WHAT MAKES OUR NH VOTING MAPS DIFFERENT

In New Hampshire, our Constitution is vague as to how new voting districts should be apportioned every 10 years, as the U.S. Constitution stipulates.  Unlike other states with independent, nonpartisan commissions drawing the lines, committees are formed by the NH Speaker of the House and the NH President of the Senate.  These committees reflect the partisan makeup of the whole body, which in the House in 2021 is 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats.   In 2011, this process was done largely behind closed doors by the majority, with little input from either Republican or Democrat members, and what input was given by the public was ignored.   As a result, Executive Council, Senate and House districts were all manipulated for partisan purposes.  

In 2021, the Map-a-Thon has involved over 200 citizens from all over the state.  

During Map-a-Thon I through III, the volunteers in the Map-a-Thon facilitated acquiring "Communities of Interest" data from towns around NH, then prioritized those communities of interest to guide the smaller mapping and tech team comprised of engineers, database specialists and GIS mapping experts.  

In preparation for mapping, the mapping and tech team took the process further by learning the U.S. and NH Constitutional requirements, the NH Supreme Court Law, and the statute and non-statute requirements and customs.   The NH Constitutional requirements, a 2006 amendment, the large number number or reps and other factors make meeting the Constitutional mandates for the NH House make it particularly difficult.  However, Map-a-Thon volunteers have made significant advances without gerrymandering, in stark contrast to past efforts of the Special Committee on Redistricting.   

SEE OUR WORK

Our volunteers are proud of the fair, nonpartisan and they've produced, and are pleased to be completely transparent with the the maps, criteria, supporting documentation, methods and software used, unlike the House Special Committee on Redistricting's spotty record.

See our preliminary maps  Our full Map-a-Thon volunteer team will be reviewing the work of the mapping & tech team on September 7 and September 21.  You are welcome to join us.  Take a look at what they've done so far. 

See our recommended final maps  (Coming Oct. 1)


Like us to spread the word
Tweet

Showing 3 reactions

  • Charles Townsend
    Charles Townsend signed up 2021-10-01 17:01:03 -0400
  • William Secord
    William Secord signed up 2021-09-26 13:54:58 -0400
  • Brian Beihl
    Brian Beihl published this page in NH Map-a-Thon Citizen-Drawn Voting District Project 2021-08-11 11:17:50 -0400
Donate Recruit Events

Connect

You can join us using

Pulse

  • eseru abel
  • Rebecca Kwoka
  • Chiss Leah
  • Gail Zachariah
  • Laurie Cass
  • Barbara Dietrich
  • Eileen Kane
  • Michael McFadden
  • Vernon Thornblad
  • James McCarthy

eseru abel just joined.

Open Democracy

  • Events
  • About
  • Learn
  • Take Action
  • News
  • DONATE

Sign in with Facebook, Twitter or email.

Created with NationBuilder – Theme by Tectonica