Redistricting group files new initiative meant to pressure legislature to act
Updated Apr 19, 2021;
Posted Apr 19, 2021
Oregon voters would decide whether to create an independent redistricting commission under an initiative filed Monday. Sean Meagher/Staff
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A group that failed to get a redistricting initiative before Oregon voters last year is laying the groundwork to get a similar petition on the ballot in 2022.
Next year’s election will come after the state’s new legislative and congressional districts are drawn up, but that isn’t stopping “People Not Politicians” from trying to depoliticize the redrawing of political maps.
The petition would create a 12-member independent redistricting commission, similar to those used in Washington and California. The members would be selected from a pool of applicants that has been reviewed by a panel of administrative law judges.
DEAR EDITOR:
The way our districts are drawn has a major impact on the strength of our democracy. Fair districts ensure that voters’ voices are heard and that our elected officials are accountable to their constituents.
Here in Ohio, we know how unfair districts contribute to a broken political system. Look no further than Trumbull County, which is broken into two U.S. Congressional Districts. Northern Trumbull County voted 74 percent for Dave Joyce in the last election, but Joyce rarely advocates for the needs of Trumbull County. As a result, the voices of communities are underrepresented on the national stage.
Our governor’s office and state lawmakers are still exempt from the Freedom of Information Act while virtually every other state makes those communications, including texts and emails, available to the public.
At least three former lawmakers who cast votes in December have taken lucrative lobbying jobs, textbook examples of the “revolving door” problem that is banned in many states. Without new ethics laws, our lawmakers will ignore conflicts of interest and cast votes on many issues that will enrich themselves or their family, with no accountability.
Last year, legislation to address these and other matters was introduced in the House, but the bills never made it through the Senate to the governor’s desk. Fortunately, there is renewed interest in addressing these issues from key House and Senate leaders, including House Speaker Jason Wentworth (R-Clare) and Sens. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) and Ed McBroom (R-Vulcan), longtime proponents of more openness through expansion
Michigan wanted to end gerrymandering Census delays make it really messy bridgemi.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bridgemi.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Stateside s conversation with Nancy Wang and Sue Hammersmith
In 2018, Michigan voters passed the Independent Redistricting Commission Initiative (Proposal 2). In doing so, they commenced a process in which everyday citizens rather than people who hold political office draw the state’s new legislative districts, which are based on data from the 2020 Census. Now that the Census has finished gathering data from the public, who exactly is doing the work of redefining Michigan’s congressional boundaries? That would be a group of 13 randomly selected Michiganders who make up the state’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. And maybe you, too.
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