I am one of the co-founders of Voters Not Politicians. You may have heard about our group of political novices from across Michigan who came together and ended partisan gerrymandering with a ballot initiative in 2018. Citizens Not Politicians is the group trying to do the same thing this year right here in Ohio.
In 2016, when I first helped launch the movement that would become Voters Not Politicians, I didn’t know much about drawing electoral maps, balancing partisan fairness or preserving communities of interest. I did know that voters like me were tired of being ignored by politicians, and I truly believed that by working together, we had the opportunity to change the status quo.
For years, politicians and special interest groups have used partisan gerrymandering to take power away from the people, allowing politicians to choose their voters and escape accountability. They draw lines behind closed doors with lobbyists and highly paid consultants, using big data and advanced computer algorithms to pick the voters most likely to help their party. This allows politicians to manipulate elections to give themselves and their party an unfair advantage for the next decade of elections. Gerrymandering like this has been done countless times in states across the country, and has almost become the norm.
But in Michigan, we stopped it.
Voters Not Politicians volunteers collected more than 425,000 petition signatures with an all-volunteer effort, putting Proposal 18-2 on the ballot. And on Nov. 6, 2018, 61% of Michigan voters from across the state and across the political spectrum passed the constitutional amendment to put the power to draw our election district maps in the hands of everyday citizens.
In December 2021, Michigan’s first Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission adopted new maps for our congressional and legislative districts. Time Magazine described the congressional map they produced as “one of the most balanced and competitive in the nation.” Michigan’s citizen-led redistricting reform ended partisan gerrymandering and set an example of what people across the political spectrum can achieve when we work together to prioritize the will of voters – not politicians.
This doesn’t mean the process has been without its challenges. Both the process and the maps have survived several legal challenges, but in December of last year, a federal court voided several state House and state Senate district maps. However, our redistricting process, designed by and for voters, was built to withstand challenges like these. The commission came back together to correct the issues identified by the court, and successfully redrew the state House maps in time for this year’s election. As of this moment, it has finished redrawing the state Senate maps, and we’re only waiting for the court’s final approval.
Critically, our amendment keeps the power to draw lines with the commission, not the courts or politicians.
There are some lessons learned from watching the process play out over the last eight years.
For example, our state must do a better job of getting geospatial and election data, including data from primary elections, to the commission. We should make improvements to the hiring process for experts and support staff so the commission has the best possible support, advice and training. And we must better support the public feedback process so that Michiganders have the tools they need to define their communities of interest and submit comments and maps that will receive full consideration.
But the most important lesson to take away is the first line of Michigan’s constitution: “All political power is inherent in the people.” By implementing an independent, transparent and impartial redistricting process, citizens – not politicians – can take their power back.
Jamie Lyons-Eddy is a co-founder and the executive director of Voters Not Politicians in Michigan.
This story was originally published by Crain’s Cleveland Business. Read more here: https://www.crainscleveland.com/crains-forum-elections/ohio-can-learn-michigans-efforts-redistricting
