Anti-Gerrymandering Activists React to Federal Ruling Ordering Michigan to Redraw Districts
Voters Not Politicians Executive Director Nancy Wang joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson.
34 of Michigan’s legislative and congressional lines were illegally drawn to benefit Republicans. That’s according to a ruling from a federal three-judge panel in the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which called the district drawing an “extremely grave” violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The sweeping decision would require Michigan to redraw those districts before 2020 and hold state Senate elections that year — two years early.
The effects of this ruling — if it stands — would be expansive and unprecedented in state politics.
Nancy Wang is the executive director of Voters Not Politicians, the group that spearheaded last year’s successful ballot measure meant to end partisan redistricting in Michigan. Wang led the campaign’s policy writing process with volunteers. She joins Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson to give her reaction to the ruling and talk about what happens next.
Click on the audio player above to hear that conversation.
The Michigan Republican Party did not respond to Detroit Today’s request to join the show. Party chair Laura Cox released the following statement on Thursday: “The Michigan Republican Party disagrees with the Federal court’s decision regarding redistricting, and will support an appeal to uphold the will of Michigan voters.”
