Do-It-Yourself Legislative Redistricting

A Michigan Ballot Initiative points the way to Reforming Gerrymandering, one of the most Anti-Democratic practices in American Politics.

in 37 States, the Legislatures hold the Power to Design Maps that lock their Party in Power, regardless of what Voters Want. This increases Political Polarization, Decreases Competition, and makes Policy Compromises difficult if not impossible and drives down Voter Turnout. Both parties do it when they get the chance, although Republicans have had many more chances in the last Decade, thanks to the wave that swept them into Power in 2010, just before the latest Redistricting Cycle.

This self-serving entrenchment was at the heart of Two Cases involving Extreme Partisan Gerrymanders before the United States Supreme Court this past Term. The Court had previously agreed that the Practice is “incompatible with democratic principles,” and that at its most Extreme it amounts to “rigging elections”. But the Court has Refused to step in, even as the Nation’s Politics have polarized and Technologies have made it easier for Politicians across the Country to carve up their Districts with Surgical precision.

Michigan’s District Maps, Redrawn by a then-new Republican Majority in 2011, are among the most skewed in the Country. In a State that Trump won by fewer than 11,000 Votes out of 4.8 Million Cast, a Victory margin of 0.3 percentage points, Republicans hold a 9-5 edge in Congressional Seats and a 27-11 advantage in the State Senate.

In the State House, Republicans maintain a 63-47 advantage, even though a Majority of Voters picked Democrats in 2016. Republicans deny that they purposefully drew themselves these Extreme Majorities. But in a 2011 Email, a Lawyer helping to shape the New Maps wrote to a Republican Legislative Aide, “We’ve spent a lot of time providing options to ensure we have a solid 9-5 delegation in 2012 and beyond.”

As the 2020 Redistricting cycle approaches, Voters across the Country are left to figure out for themselves how to ensure Fairness in a Representative Democracy.

It’s an issue that has been bothering Ms. Katie Fahey, a Recycling Program Coordinator from Grand Rapids,Fahey since she first learned about it in her fourth-grade Classroom. “I remember asking the teacher, ‘Why don’t we fix it if we know politicians cheat?’ The Teacher said, ‘That’s the way it’s always been done,’” Ms. Fahey said. “And that was just not the answer I wanted to hear. There’s this basic building block in your democracy that you know is corrupt, and we’re not going to do anything about it.”

In 2016, Ms. Fahey decided to do something about it. On November 10th, Two days after the Election, she posted a short, unremarkable Message on Facebook. “I’d like to take on gerrymandering in Michigan,” Ms. Fahey wrote. “If you’re interested in doing this as well, please let me know.” She’d written the same post Two Years earlier and hadn’t gotten a single Reply. But 2016 was different. People everywhere were newly engaged in Politics, debating one another and demanding Fundamental Changes in their Government. Voters in Michigan’s Primaries that year had chosen the anti-establishment Candidates, Trump and Bernie Sanders. “These two candidates are talking about taking down the system, this extreme overhaul,” Ms. Fahey said. “It seems like people are really hungry for that.”

Her Facebook Post went viral. A Nonprofit Group, Voters Not Politicians, was born. Its Goal: getting a Constitutional Amendment on the 2018 Ballot that would take Map-Drawing power from Lawmakers, who would never relinquish it themselves, and give it to a Commission made up of Regular Citizens who would Consult with Data Analysts and present their Progress in regular Public Hearings. Independent Redistricting Commissions, which are already functioning in California, Arizona, and Four other States, can go a long way toward Reducing the Influence of Partisan Politics in Mapmaking.

The Michigan Proposal would establish a 13-Member Commission made up of Four Republican Voters, Four Democratic Voters and Five Independents.
The Group initially scheduled Eight Town Halls to make its Case to the Public. They ended up holding 33 in 33 days. “A bunch of us with day jobs, speeding to northern Michigan after work, trying to find a public library to host the town hall in, because we don’t have any money,” Ms. Fahey said, recalling the hectic early days of the Movement. “We basically crowdsourced the campaign. Because I’m a millennial, I figured this is how things work.”

She was right. Less than Two years after her Facebook post, Ms. Fahey leads a Volunteer Army of 10,000 Michiganders representing every County in the State. Five Thousand of the Volunteers work daily, Knocking on doors, Educating Voters, and gaining Support for the Initiative. Michigan requires Citizen Ballot Measures to get 315,000 Signatures; in December, Ms. Fahey’s Group submitted more than 425,000. In June, the State Approved the Measure and added it to the Ballot.

So far, the Group has raised about $1.25 Million, far less than most Citizen-led Initiatives, and yet it has 14 times more Individual Donors than any other Michigan Initiative this year. The Initiative looks like a prime example of Regular Citizens rising up and making their Voices heard when Lawmakers are ignoring them. But the tight web of Money and Politics that has entrenched Michigan Republicans in Power isn’t tearing easily. The State Republican Party and its Top Politicians, including Bill Schuette, the Attorney General now running for Governor, are working hard to have the Initiative struck from the November Ballot. They’ve taken their fight to the Michigan Supreme Court, which heard Oral Arguments last week. The Court is expected to Rule by the End of July.

The Opponents say a citizens’ Commission would impose such Sweeping Changes to the Michigan Constitution that it can be Adopted only through a Constitutional Convention. An Appeals Court rejected that Argument Unanimously in June, but the outcome in the State’s Supreme Court is uncertain.

Five of the Seven Justices were Nominated or Appointed by Republicans, and Two of those have received Financial Backing from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, which also happens to be one of the Main Funders of the Opposition Campaign. Both Justices have Refused to Recuse themselves from the Case.

It’s easy to see why, even though the Public broadly Opposes Partisan Gerrymandering, few People have the stomach, or the Resources, to get into a fight of this sort with entrenched Money and Power. It didn’t help when the United States Supreme Court dodged the Issue again in June. Following the Retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was seen as the crucial fifth Vote to curb Gerrymandering, the Court is unlikely to Revisit the Issue for a long time, if ever. So is Reform a Lost Cause? In last month’s Case, Justice Elena Kagan reiterated what many consider to be the Central Problem: “Only the courts can do anything to remedy the problem, because gerrymanders benefit those who control the political branches,” she wrote.

The good news is that Katie Fahey and others like her are proving Justice Kagan wrong. Michigan is one of several States, Red and Blue, where Regular Citizens, tired of being the pawns of power-hungry Lawmakers, are Fighting to take back the Mapmaking Process. Initiatives will also be on the Ballot in Utah, almost certainly in Missouri, and possibly in Arkansas and Oklahoma. And Lawmakers in Colorado and Ohio have Agreed, in the face of Public pressure, to allow Ballot Measures on whether to adopt Independent Commissions in those States.

A truly Fair process must be Transparent as well as Nonpartisan. Redistricting today is a sophisticated, Data-Driven enterprise, and that Data should be available to everyone, the General Public as well as Journalists, Analysts and Advocates.

There are other ways to stop the Worst Excesses of Partisan Gerrymandering. When a State’s Governor is of a different Party than its Legislative Majority, the Governor, who doesn’t depend on cleverly Drawn Lines to get Elected, can Veto Unfair Maps. In today’s Political landscape, where Republicans hold Total Control of the Government in 26 States, this means electing more Democratic Governors. The Democratic Governors Association is pouring Money into Governors’ races in Eight closely divided States: Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Colorado, Maine and Nevada.

But the principle also works in Maryland, where the popular Republican Governor, Larry Hogan, serves as a Buffer against the State’s Democratic Legislature, which created an Extreme Partisan Gerrymander with the eager help of Hogan’s Democratic Predecessor.

Finally, Litigation can still be effective in some States. Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down Republican-drawn District Maps for Violating the State Constitution and Appointed a Nonpartisan Mapmaker to Draw new ones. The Republican Maps, drawn in 2011, were so skewed that when Democrats Won a Majority of the Popular Vote in 2012, they got just Five of the State’s 18 Congressional Seats. How did Republican Lawmakers deal with Losing their Power? First they defied the Court’s Ruling and then they tried to Impeach the Justices who voted in favor of it.
The Pennsylvania High Court did the right thing in this Case, but Voters can’t count on State Courts to step in and solve all Redistricting Disputes.









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker