The campaign leader of the group Voters Not Politicians says there’s a conflict of interest in the current process for drawing the boundaries for Congressional and state Legislative districts. Katey Fahey says politicians in office should not be in charge of redistricting.
Voters Not Politicians is holding a series of town hall meetings around the state. One is scheduled for Sunday in Kalamazoo.
The group plans to launch a ballot initiative, but Fahey says they haven’t settled on a proposal yet. She says the town hall meetings are being held in part to get feedback. Fahey says political parties have an interest in how district boundaries are drawn, but she says that doesn’t mean the political parties have to be in charge.
Other states have reformed the process by creating an independent redistricting commission. Fahey says her group is looking at other states, but says they still have to determine what is best for Michigan.
Voters Not Politicians plans to continue gathering feedback through the first week in April. Fahey says they plan to submit petition language to the state in May. If approved, the group could then begin collecting petition signatures. Fahey says they want to put a proposal on the statewide ballot in 2018. The next redistricting will follow the Census in 2020.
