Michigan
voters
approve
anti-gerrymandering
proposal
DETROIT
-
Proposal
2, an
anti-gerrymandering
ballot
measure
sponsored
by
Voters
Not
Politicians,
won at
the
ballot
box
today.
Michiganders
soundly
rejected
gerrymandering,
the
manipulation
of
electoral
maps to
ensure
that one
party
remains
in
power.
“Michigan
has a
long
tradition
of
standing
up to
fight
back
against
the
status
quo”
said
Emily
Wietecha,
Chapter
Leader
of
Represent
Metro
Detroit.
“This
election
cycle
was no
exception.
With so
much at
stake,
we knew
that
coming
together
to
establish
these
crucial
reforms
was our
only way
to make
a
stand.”
Michigan
consistently
ranks as
one of
the most
“gerrymandered”
states
in the
country.
With
this new
requirement
for an
independent
citizens
commission
to draw
fair
maps for
Michigan’s
fourteen
congressional
districts,
the
impact
of this
vote
will
have
national
impact.
“We’re
seeing a
wave of
political
reform
that is
unprecedented
in
modern
history,”
said
Josh
Silver,
co-founder
and
Executive
Director
of
RepresentUs,
the
nation’s
leading
right-left
anti-corruption
group.
“Special
interests
and
lobbyists
have
rigged
the
system
against
the
people,
and now
the
people
are
taking
matters
into
their
own
hands to
unrig
the
system.”
The
grassroots
movement
behind
the
initiative
was led
by a
group
called
Voters
Not
Politicians,
which
collected
over
425,000
signatures
in a
little
over 100
days
through
an
all-volunteer
effort.
Proposal
2
creates
an
independent
redistricting
commission
for
congressional
and
state
legislative
districts
to fix
Michigan’s
broken
redistricting
process.
This
anti-gerrymandering
ballot
measure
brought
together
broad
and
diverse
coalitions
of
conservatives,
progressives,
and
everyone
in
between.
The
initiative
came
under
attack
when the
Michigan
Chamber
of
Commerce
sued to
try to
keep it
off the
ballot,
but
Represent
Michigan
fought
for
their
right to
vote on
the
measure.
Because
of their
efforts,
the
citizens
of
Michigan
can now
look
forward
to a
more
open and
fair
process
during
the
state's
next
round of
redistricting.
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