By Steve Dobson | September 9, 2021
I’m a lifelong Michigander, and my hazy memories from junior high school Civics class include wondering why flagrant gerrymandering was allowed to warp our elections. Fast forward 60 years, I became aware of VNP during the Proposal 2 ballot initiative in 2018 and heard about a young woman here in Michigan that was leading the charge to take down partisan gerrymandering once and for all, for the simple reason that our elected officials just weren’t up to the task. I’ve been a passionate supporter ever since.
Ending gerrymandering will be a huge step forward for the State of Michigan, and VNP has continued its game-changing work during the last few months of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission’s deliberations, public comment and map-drawing. At the same time the State and Country are at a frightening crossroads. Gerrymandering was a symptom of something much larger. We are coming up very short on a lot of important issues that are only going to get worse if someone doesn’t make them better. VNP fills an important role at the time when we need it most, and the organization has expanded its focus from gerrymandering to full-out democracy. It’s about better government and better governance, and that’s an existential win for all of us.
If you believe in our State and our Country and want to be part of the answer, please join me in support of VNP.
Steve served on the Host Committee for an outdoor fundraiser on Tuesday, September 21st to benefit Voters Not Politicians. If you would like to host an event for VNP in your neck of the woods, please contact Melissa Horste at [email protected].