LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- A state Senate panel has approved a bill which would create a framework for a citizen commission to oversee legislative redistricting.
Under the bill the Secretary of State determines how to distribute applications and provide rules for who is eligible to be selected. It would also create criteria to determine affiliation with political parties.
Nancy Wang is the President of Voters Not Politicians., the anti-gerrymandering group behind Proposal Two on the November ballot. She says the bill is an attempt to shirk the will of Michigan voters who overwhelmingly supported the proposal at the polls.
“This bill is a direct attack on the will of the voters. It and any other attempt by this legislature... particularly during a Lame Duck session to re-insert themselves into the registering process… subverts the will of the voters and is anti-democratic,” she says.
Residents who apply to be a member of the 13-person commission and who are not truthful about their political affiliation could be subject to a $500 fine.
The commission will include four Republicans, four Democrats and five Independents.