Voters will have many issues to consider when casting their ballot in November, one of them being a proposal that supports creating a new commission to draw voting district lines.
Gene Champagne, education coordinator of the group Voters Not Politicians (VNP), talked to a group of 40 people at the Superior Dome Wednesday night to discuss Proposal 2, which regards gerrymandering and why it’s important to create an independent commission with citizens doing the redistricting.
The Northern Center for Lifelong Learning (NCLL) hosted a presentation titled “Gerrymandering: What is it and why should you know?” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Superior Dome in Room 101B. The speaker and education coordinator of VNP, Gene Champagne, stressed that gerrymandering is a real issue in Michigan that needs to be reversed.
Gerrymandering is a term used to describe voting districts drawn to give one political party an advantage over the other.
Whether people know a little bit about gerrymandering or nothing at all, this presentation always manages to surprise people at how politicians are “rigging” the system,
Champagne said.
“It really knocks them on their fanny when they realize how it is manipulated and how precisely it is manipulated. And how serious it is that it’s going to continue this way if it’s not changed right away,” Champagne said.
Currently, Michigan legislators draw the district lines. Under Proposal 2, the 13-member independent commission drawing the district lines would consist of four Democrats, four Republicans and five voters from non-affiliated groups who are all chosen randomly. VNP began with 3,000 volunteers that wanted to change how the system is “rigged,” Champagne noted. The group received over 425,000 signatures from each county in Michigan, totaling earning the proposal a place on November’s ballot.
“Democracy is not easy to keep. It’s hard work. Nothing’s free, not even democracy,” Champagne said. “I hope people will realize how serious enough it is to volunteer like I did. This is citizen driven. If you want to make change, this is the very building block of our democracy.”
The NCLL is an organization with 150 to 200 members that works to coordinate events and programs that are informative and educational. The group hosts around 80 programs a year incorporating science, nature, the arts, etc. Senior citizens mostly make up the membership, but all are welcome, NCLL program liaison Sally
Olsen said.
Proposal language can be confusing and it’s important people understand what they’re voting for or against, she added.
“It’s getting close to November, so time is of the essence here. To me that’s a big deal,” Olsen said. “[People will] leave with some knowledge that they didn’t have before.”
David • Oct 15, 2018 at 3:47 pm
While I think that an “independant commission” is a good step in the direction to combat the gerrymandering problem created by both Parties, this particular proposal concerns me for the following reasons:
1. The selection process is not nearly as “random” as one would likely expect it to be. The elected Secretary of State will be the one doing the selection. Choosing “randomly” from those who self identify as either Democrat, Republican, or neither. While self identified “independants” have no political affiliation, most generally lean one way or the other. A savvy secretary of state is going to choose those independants who lean the direction of their party, leaving the commission less bi-partisan than we would all hope it to be.
2. In 2011 (following the 2010 Census) the Michigan Legislature appropriated $878,000 to fund the last redistricting mandated by federal law. It is estimated that this commisssion is going to cost the State a minimum appropriation of $4.6 million dollars per year, or $46,000,000.00 over the ten years between census’s. A cost increase of over 45 million dollars. Many experts agree that this cost increase if actually very likely to go much higher as the state will have to fun legal challenges to the district maps. Proposal 2 will unquestionably cost Michigan taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
3. The commissioners appointed to the commission can only be removed from the board by a vote of 10 of the other board memebers. The secretary of State who appointed them, the Governor of the state, the Michigan Legislature, or even the voters of the state of Michigan can remove a commision board member for cause. Meaning? This board is accountable to NO ONE but the board itself.
The language of Michigan Proposal 2 is horrible. Under it’s current writing there is NO way that I would vote for this proposal and I hope that it is soundly voted down.