Lately, there’s been a lot of talk coming out of Texas about drawing new voting maps to get rid of Democrats in Congress and help Republicans try to save their majority, with California and New York threatening to respond in kind and starting what can only be called a “gerrymandering war.” That should worry every American, no matter where you live or how you vote.

Gerrymandering is the process by which every 10 years (following a census) politicians pick who gets to vote for them, instead of voters picking who represents them. They do this by manipulating district lines based on how people vote. Both parties are guilty of it, and it needs to stop. It’s cheating, plain and simple.

And if you care about any issue, the reason there hasn’t been sufficient progress can almost certainly be tied back to gerrymandering.

It’s how states like Ohio, where Republicans get 55% of the vote, give themselves nearly 70% of the seats in the General Assembly and have veto-proof majorities.

Now, some leaders in Texas want to break norms and are causing other states that are safely held by Democrats to threaten to outdo them, and other states with extreme gerrymandering trying to pick up seats in Congress during the midterms. This is not normal — not only is the middle of a decade when states redistrict, it’s simply not an activity of a healthy government. They’re saying, “If you cheat for your party, we’ll cheat for ours.” That’s a dangerous game, and it should frighten every American.

The policies that end up being produced by gerrymandered legislatures like what we’ve seen here in Ohio have given us a trailing economy and a net migration crisis. This extreme gerrymandering ensures that politicians are accountable to only the fringes of their party, and rich mega donors / lobbyists. It means politicians won’t care what we think, because their seats will be locked in as long as they don’t make the wrong people mad.

Simply put: It means our voices here in Mahoning County will matter less and less.

This is what Issue 1 tried to prevent, but corrupt politicians in Columbus rigged the game before it was even played, and lied to you about what it did because it threatened their power. It even went so far as to put lies on the ballot language hoping you wouldn’t read the amendment, and then bragged after those who didn’t know fell for it.

This isn’t a Democrat vs. Republican issue. It’s a right vs. wrong issue. Fair maps mean fair elections. Fair maps mean functional democracy. Period.

Ohio is one of the states that are looking to get involved in this “war.” We can’t let that happen. Those who want to see our state serves as a place that our children and grandchildren don’t have to flee for opportunity, need to take a moment and urge those on the congressional redistricting commission when it’s convened, and to call Gov. DeWine’s office and tell them this has gone on too far, and Ohio should draw fair districts truly representative of the people who live in them.

It’s time to put voters first — instead of special interests. Lawmakers must stop this before it starts — if your ideas are truly the will of the voters, you don’t need to cheat.

Chris Anderson is chairman of the Mahoning County Democratic Party.