Reform may be coming for redistricting in Michigan. The following is from an article, “Anti-gerrymander group turns in signatures to get on Nov. ballot in Michigan“, by Kathleen Gray from the Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau, a newspaper based in Michigan. Take a look:

The anti-gerrymandering group Voters Not Politicians turned in more than 425,000 petition signatures to the Secretary of State Monday in an effort to recast how political district lines are drawn in the state.

Volunteers for the group have been ubiquitous across the state, collecting the necessary 315,654 petition signatures from registered Michigan voters that are needed to get the constitutional amendment on the ballot. With a cushion of more than 100,000 signatures, the group is confident that a review of the petitions will survive and the issue will get on the November 2018 ballot.

A great video from the Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau on the subject can be found here:

https://www.freep.com/videos/opinion/2017/10/16/what-gerrymandering-we-explain/106702672/

Also, the following is from the article “Group behind independent redistricting ballot petition submits signatures to state” by Lauren Gibbons from the MLive Media Group. Take a look:

More than 100 volunteers and organizers for Voters Not Politicians gathered outside Michigan’s Bureau of Elections building Monday afternoon, standing in the rain and passing off box after box of petition sheets in a line from the road to the door. Katie Fahey, the group’s president, said they were turning in more than 425,000 signatures. Voters Not Politicians needs 315,654 signatures verified by the Board of State Canvassers to qualify for the November 2018 ballot.

Fahey thanked the gathered crowd for their efforts in signature collection, which began in August and has been an all-volunteer effort. She said they’d keep the fight going to make sure the petition is voted through, and expressed confidence the group would be able to do so.

“We’re ready to do it. We’re going to do it,” she said.

Here you can read the entire petition from Voters Not Politicians. According to their website, Voters Not Politicians is a ‘registered ballot committee leading the charge to amend the Michigan Constitution for a citizen-controlled system of drawing voting maps for legislative and congressional districts’.