Ballot Petition Group Turns in Signatures

Liz Gullett

Dec 22, 2017

This week, a group turned in signatures to the Secretary of State’s office to get their citizens initiative placed on the 2018 ballot. The group is seeking to create a commission that would be charged with redrawing districts following a census, in place of the legislature who currently controls the process.

Using updated census data, the legislature redraws districts for the Michigan House of Representatives, the Michigan Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. It is incredibly important how the lines are drawn, as they can be tweaked to favor one particular party over another. Following the last redistricting in 2010, which was done by a Republican-controlled legislature, several people were outspoken about what they viewed as a highly politicized process. This group is one of several who have been calling for an end to “gerrymandering” nationwide.

The initiative calls for a thirteen-member commission, including five independent members, and four Democratic and four Republican members, to oversee the redrawing of districts. The group needs 315,654 valid signatures to make it onto the November 2018 ballot. According to the backers of the petition, they turned in over 425,000 signatures. Now, the Secretary of State’s office is tasked with validating the signatures, using random samples.

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