DETROIT – Michigan voters will decide on a proposal to create a commission for redistricting purposes on the November ballot.
Devin Scillian hosted a roundtable discussion on the proposal on Tuesday night right here on ClickOnDetroit.
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Gerrymandering in Michigan: Devin Scillian hosts a round table discussion on Proposal 2 - the anti-gerrymandering initiative on the November ballot.
Posted by WDIV Local 4 / ClickOnDetroit on Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Or by following this link.
Participants included:
- Katie Fahey – Voters Not Politicians, Executive Director
- Tony Daunt – Michigan Freedom Fund, Executive Director
Background:
- Gerrymandering is nothing new. Some studies suggest it dates back to the early 1800s in America.
- The current maps in Michigan were drawn and approved in 2011 for Congressional, State House and State Senate districts.
- In the 2016 election, Michiganders cast close to equal amounts of votes between Republican and Democratic candidates in congressional seat races. However due to gerrymandering, zero congressional races were decided by a margin of victory below 10% and Republicans took 64% of the seats.
Proposal 18-2: Voters Not Politicians
Official ballot language:
A proposed constitutional amendment to establish a commission of citizens with exclusive authority
to adopt district boundaries for the Michigan Senate, Michigan House of Representatives
and U.S. Congress, every 10 years.
This proposed constitutional amendment would:
- Create a commission of 13 registered voters randomly selected by the Secretary of State:
- 4 each who self-identify as affiliated with the 2 major political parties; and
- 5 who self-identify as unaffiliated with major political parties.
- Prohibit partisan officeholders and candidates, their employees, certain relatives, and lobbyists from serving as commissioners.
- Establish new redistricting criteria including geographically compact and contiguous districts of equal population, reflecting Michigan’s diverse population and communities of interest.
- Districts shall not provide disproportionate advantage to political parties or candidates.
- Require an appropriation of funds for commission operations and commissioner compensation.
Take a more in-depth look at the proposal and what it would mean for Michigan here.