Focused Read in 2-3 minutes
“Michigan Gerrymandering
Reform Hits A Major Milestone
A proposal to create an
independent redistricting commission in one of the worst
gerrymandered states could be headed to the ballot in 2018.
A Michigan grassroots
group says it has gathered enough petition signatures to put a
measure on the 2018 ballot that would allow voters to choose whether
to amend the state constitution to create an independent
redistricting commission.
The group, called Voters
Not Politicians, plans to turn in more than 425,000 signatures to the
Michigan Secretary of State’s Office on Monday to begin the
verification process. The group needs at least 315,654 valid
signatures to get the measure on the ballot. The campaign and
petition collection effort was run completely by volunteers, though
the group has recently brought on paid public relations, fundraising
and legal assistance.
An independent
redistricting commission could have significant consequences in
Michigan, which the Brennan Center for Justice describes as one of
the most severely gerrymandered states in the country.
Following the 2010 census, Michigan Republicans controlled the
redistricting process and drew the lines in such a way that gave
Republicans an advantage of two to three additional seats in
Congress, according to the Brennan Center’s analysis.
The ballot initiative aims
to make the redistricting process more fair by amending the Michigan
Constitution to create a 13-member redistricting commission with four
Democrats, four Republicans and five independents. The commission
would be required to hold at least 10 public hearings as
part of the redistricting process.
Katie Fahey, the president
and treasurer of Voters Not Politicians, said the effort to gather
hundreds of thousands of signatures started with a single Facebook
post days after the 2016 election. …
“When I was thinking
about that, I remembered in school learning about redistricting and
about gerrymandering and how that’s one of our really fundamental
systems that democracy has, yet in many states it is corrupt that we
have politicians choosing their voters, instead of voters choosing
their politicians,” she told HuffPost. “It just felt like a
really good time to find an issue we could talk about no matter what
your political belief was and actually start restoring some of that
faith in democracy and those systems.”
… The U.S. Supreme Court
is considering two cases that could reshape the way redistricting is
done following the 2020 census. The high court could use the cases to
articulate a standard for the first time of when redistricting goes
so far to benefit a political party that it is unconstitutional.
Under the
Michigan proposal, anyone in the general public would be able to
apply for a seat on the commission and the Secretary of State’s
Office would randomly send out 10,000 mailers inviting people to
apply. Applications would be statistically weighted and then chosen
at random. Those applying cannot have served as a lobbyist,
candidate or officeholder for six years or be closely related to
anyone who has. They will be barred from serving in a partisan
elected office for five years after they finish their time on the
commission. LaBrant told the AP that the proposal would result in
“neophytes” being responsible for the state’s redistricting
process. … “
You can read more here
You can find the format
your state uses for drawing districts here
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