Good for Michigan. Bad for politicians. They really shouldnât be allowed to select their own voters.
Narrator voiceover: âNow, observe as millions of dollars pour into Michigan to defeat this measure.â
This is truly wonderful for both Michigan and the country. I expect to see more of these ballot measures popping up, and I expect most will pass. There just arenât a lot of great and sound arguments as to why districts shouldnât be drawn fairly and proportionately. I suspect even a plurality of GOP voters will get on board since they wholeheartedly believe theyâre the silent majority being denied their rightful representation by minorities flooding into their districts.
Howâs the polling going?
wow! Iâm so happy about this, because I knew about the Courtâs make-up. My husband and I signed the petition and crossed our fingers.
Yay! Yay! Yay! Go, Michigan!!
I am cautiously optimistic, Itâs getting on the ballot, which is a great win, but is anyone else concerned about the commissionâs âfour Republicans, four Democrats, and five independentsâ? Iâve not run across many folks who are actually independent, but more like âitâs too embarrassing for me to admit what party Iâm in, so even though Iâm gonna always side with the Râs/Dâs Iâm just going to say Iâm Independentâ
Hope Iâm proven wrong.
If the people lead the leaders will follow!
Register people to vote. We have less than 100 days to the midterm elections when we take back our country!.
There is a Federal Voter Registration form you can download and use in all 50 states and US Territories- https://vote.gov/files/federal-voter-registration_1-25-16_english.pdf. Print out a bunch and keep them with you. Register people on the spot!
If you need to help people overcome the GOP-led voter-run-around campaign help them do that. This site, https://www.aauw.org/resource/organize-a-voter-registration-drive/, has a how-to on organizing a voter registration drive. Or just sitting outside Wal Mart with a folding chair and a card table.
I have said this before, but it is worth repeating.
The republicans know they cannot win elections unless they cheat through voter purges, gerrymandering, etc.
The wealthy are terrified that we might ever have âone person, one vote.â They know they will loose the power they believe they are entitled to control.
âminorities and illegalsâ
fify
Iâm not going to be surprised if this case doesnât end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. What happens there is anyoneâs guess, but for the moment Iâm very pleased with the current result.
Bingo. That phrase should be central to the campaign to pass this measure.
Striking a blow for true representative government.
Theyâll have to manufacture a federal issue. Drawing districts is the first step in determining the manner of elections and âThe times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.â (Article I, Section 4)
State Supreme Courts have final say over state constitutional issues re: elections, redistricting, etc⌠SCOTUS has no jurisdiction, USC specifically leaves those up to the states.
As a Michigander and profound cynic, I must say Iâm shocked that the Court ruled this way given that it has a Republican majority. Nothing is guaranteed, but I think it has a good chance of passing.
The next step is to elect a new Secretary of State who will be in charge of picking the people seated on this Commission as members. The current SoS, Ruth Johnson ÂŽ, is term limited.
The Democratic candidate worth voting for in this case is Jocelyn Benson, former Dean of Wayne State University Law School. Sheâs an accomplished candidate to be sure. Letâs see who has the gall to throw mud at her in this electionâŚbecause thatâs the Rs only move left in their effort to deny fair elections in our state.
The selection process in the proposal addresses these concerns in an interesting way - the commissioners will be chosen at random from a pool of eligible applicants (who must be, among other things, registered MI voters and not professionally involved in politics). That plus the radical transparency of the process that is spelled out should keep things on the level.
Democrats have been seriously underrepresented with recent gerrymandering efforts. Theyâd better be fired up and ready to change that in November.
I have no doubt, however, that republicans are already working on other ways to skew elections.
They never give up.
The Michigan SOS would have no power to chose the actual members of the commission per the proposal, and is involved only in a very narrow administrative capacity.