The nonprofit group that successfully pushed to amend the Michigan Constitution and create a nonpartisan citizen-led redistricting process, took a moment Thursday to both reflect on the success of that effort, but also to say it was, “moving forward to protect rights of Michigan voters.”
Voters Not Politicians (VNP), which helped establish the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC), held a virtual media briefing to celebrate the Tuesday filing deadline for candidates running for Congress, Michigan House and Senate seats under maps drawn by the commission.
VNP Executive Director Nancy Wang said that while the commission continues to defend the newly created maps from various court challenges, the implementation of their effort that began more than five years ago was worth recognizing.
“We didn’t want Tuesday’s historic milestone to pass without us taking our breath and really appreciating where we are, how much work it took to get here and all of the success that we have been able to generate here in Michigan,” said Wang. “We started in 2016 from nothing…and we were trying to figure out a way we could really, really have an independent commission of just citizens, taking politicians out of our process altogether.”
This story was originally published by Michigan Advance. Read more here: https://michiganadvance.com/2022/04/15/redistricting-reform-advocates-look-ahead-to-protecting-voting-rights/
