NEWS

Gerrymandering on the ballot

Vardan Sargsyan | Washtenaw Voice

By Catherine Engstrom-Hadley
Staff Writer

This November’s ballot has three key state-wide changes up for a vote: cannabis legalization, expansion of voter access, and gerrymandering eradication.

Proposal 2 presents the issue of gerrymandering, a practice used to establish a political advantage for a particular party by manipulating voting districts. Michigan is one of the most gerrymandered states, according to New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. State districts are currently redrawn by politicians every 10 years, with no input from voters.

“Students today know our system is broken. Politicians and lobbyists rigging our election maps are a prime example of that,” said Elizabeth Battise, an organizer for Voters Not Politicians, the group responsible for creating Proposition 2.

In 2016, Michigan Democrats won over half the votes for the House, but Republicans obtained most of the seats, according to a study by the Brennan Center for Justice.

If passed, Proposition 2 establishes an independent citizen redistricting commission. The commission would be made of 13 independent citizens and would meet every 10 years after the federal census to determine districts that are politically competitive.

The 13 members would be made of four republicans, four democrats, and five independent voters. The Secretary of State would be placed in charge of overseeing the committee, choosing applicants at random, and enacting the commissions decisions. Over 10,000 applications would be mailed out to random registered voters and applications to be on the committee will be available.

“We believe proposal 2 will bring more transparency to government at every level, and will help restore more confidence in our elected officials and the democratic process.” Battise said. Proposal 2 has seen some opposition. Michigan’s Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit to try to take the proposal down in July of this year, but the Michigan Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit.