Voters Not Politicians calls for Board of State Canvassers to Certify Proposal for November Ballot

LANSING, Mich. – Volunteers and campaign leadership urged the Board of State Canvassers to certify the Voters Not Politicians proposal for the November ballot at a meeting in the State Capitol on Thursday, May 10, which would establish a transparent process to prevent manipulation of legislative and congressional district lines for political purposes.
"We remain optimistic that the Board of State canvassers will quickly move to certify our proposal for the November ballot so the voters have a chance to decide on this important reform for our democracy," said Katie Fahey, founder and executive director of Voters Not Politicians. "It's clear that the people of Michigan are eager to enact meaningful reform that will make our government more transparent and accountable so we can solve some of our state's biggest challenges like repairing our infrastructure, ensuring safe drinking water and making sure every child receives a high quality education."
The all-volunteer petition collection effort culminated in turning in more than 425,000 signatures collected in 110 days representing each of Michigan's 83 counties to the Bureau of Elections on Monday, Dec. 18, 2017, more than 140 days ago.
The Bureau of Elections staff found – and campaign consultants at Practical Political Consulting confirmed – that more than 92 percent of signatures reviewed were valid, which means the campaign collected over 100,000 more signatures than required under state law. No challenges have been brought against the signatures themselves.
The Board of State Canvasser website says regarding constitutional initiatives, "If the petition is determined to contain a sufficient number of valid signatures by the Board of State Canvassers, the proposed amendment is placed on the next general election ballot for the consideration of the state's voters."
"We have the signatures. They have been verified. They are not challenged. We expect the board to put the measure on the November ballot at its next meeting," said Jim Lancaster, campaign counsel for Voters Not Politicians. "The people of Michigan deserve a chance to end our current redistricting process, which allows politicians working behind closed doors to manipulate districts to their personal and partisan benefit, and replace it with an open, citizen-driven process."