Early this week, the Secretary of State announced the constitutional amendment changing the way we redistrict following a census has enough signatures to move forward. The group, Voters Not Politicians, turned in more than the necessary 315,654 signatures required to get the amendment on the November 2018 ballot. “The Board of State Canvassers was scheduled to meet on Thursday to vote to certify the amendment, but canceled the meeting. Getting the Board’s certification is a necessary step to get the issue on the ballot this November,” explained Brendan Ringlever of MLC.

The proposal would amend the Michigan Constitution, taking away the duty of redistricting Congressional and Legislative lines from the state legislature and governor and give it to an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. The commission, created through the amendment, would be comprised of thirteen commissioners, randomly chosen for a pool of registered voters. It creates guidelines for the makeup of the commission, including members from the two major political parties and independent members.

In April a group opposed to the petition filed a challenge with the Secretary of State’s office alleging the form doesn’t meet MCL requirements. However, since the group doesn’t challenge the validity of the signatures, they moved forward with recommending the proposal met the signature requirements. Additionally, in the beginning of May, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce filed a challenge in the Court of Appeals as to whether the petition properly describes how this would amend the Michigan Constitution.

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