Redistricting Proposal Cleared for State Ballot

A proposal to change the way legislative districts are drawn in Michigan will appear on the November ballot. The Michigan Supreme Court voted 4-3 yesterday to allow the initiative to proceed. If passed by voters, the redistricting process would be taken out of the hands of the legislature, and turned over to an evenly balanced bipartisan commission. The goal is to reduce the influence of the party in power to draw the districts in a way that would maintain its power, known as gerrymandering. The proposal had been challenged by opponents who said that it violated the Michigan Constitution by transferring powers it granted exclusively to the legislature.