In push to end gerrymandering, an unlikely state steps into the spotlight

So if an independent commission can draw fair political districts here that meet legal requirements and that can survive an expected flood of court challenges, it could serve as a model for other states to follow, Li said. Eventually, that could lead to fairer elections across the country — and maybe even a less rancorous political dynamic.

Critics say the approach — called gerrymandering — is a major reason the nation’s politics have become so deeply partisan. Since candidates running in safe districts typically don’t need to worry about the general election, they’re more likely to cater to the hard-core party stalwarts who vote in low-turnout primaries by adopting more extreme views.

This time, however, the process will be different, thanks to a grassroots effort that began in 2016, when a Michigan woman lamented the effects of gerrymandering on Facebook., bringing out volunteers who gathered more than 400,000 signatures to put a proposed redistricting change on the state ballot. The measure overcame a host of legal challenges and, in 2018, won overwhelming support from voters who amended the state Constitution to create the independent commission.

Learning about these communities was one the goals of the 16 public meetings the commission held in May and June, including the one last week in Port Huron. “We’re going to represent the public a lot better than they did,” Clark said. “The Republicans aren’t forcing anything Republican. The Democrats aren’t forcing anything Democrat. We're all just trying to work together to get these maps drawn in a nonpartisan way.”The commissioners’ goals are lofty, but the process could be messy.

The gerrymander came from Eldridge Gerry by Boston in the very early 1800’s.

Fingers crossed that this works out well, because this is the type of system the whole country should be using.

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