This is my newest column for Dome Magazine:
So, how to describe what has happened in recent days to destroy desperately needed election reforms in Michigan?
Appalling? Disgraceful?
The months-long effort to end partisan gerrymandering in Michigan quietly died. The League of Women Voters, which led this crusade, pulled the plug due to indifference. The building blocks toward serious election reforms came crashing down. And hardly anyone noticed.
The LWV took the reins last year to push for redistricting reform, to end an outrageous process in which the party in power draws district borders that blatantly favor their team. The LWV received widespread praise as it held 35 town hall meetings across the state to explain how the manipulative, squiggly lines that divide our legislative districts – for Congress, state Senate, state House, county boards – are blatantly manipulated through power politics to give one political party an advantage.
The LWV pointed out that, over time, both political parties have played this game. The result is this – noncompetitive November general elections across the state have little impact, to the point that most incumbents from each party seeking re-election need only survive the low-turnout August primary to maintain their job.
While other states march toward reforms to outlaw this arcane form of democracy, the League warned time and again that Michigan remained mired in a system where we allow the politicians to pick their voters, rather than the other way around.
Out of the League’s efforts, a 2016 ballot proposal calling for the creation of an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission – similar to the actions taken in some states — was expected to bear fruit.
Instead, it died on the vine. The impact of big money – and an all-encompassing lack of leadership – prevailed over good government. The LWV made clear that they lacked the finances to launch a statewide petition drive but no one – no one – stepped forward to fill the void.
As a result, Michigan’s rigged election process lives on.
Continue reading here.
