A town hall event will be held in Hamburg Township this week to inform residents about gerrymandering and a proposed solution.

The session will be held Wednesday, July 18th, at the Hamburg Township Library from 6:30 to 7:30pm. The event is being led by Voters Not Politicians; a non-partisan ballot committee seeking to end, “the manipulation of voting maps for political gain.” The group says politicians and lobbyists draw voting maps behind closed doors as a way to favor the political party in power.

Voters Not Politicians is working to amend the state Constitution to establish an Independent Citizen Redistricting Commission that would allow voters to draw district lines through a series of open meetings.

Wednesday the 18th is also the same day that the Michigan Supreme Court will hear oral arguments by an opposition group; Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution. They sued in an attempt to keep the measure off the ballot, arguing the proposal is too broad to be considered an amendment to the state Constitution.

Voters Not Politicians collected over 425,000 signatures to place the proposal on the November 2018 state ballot. The group says ending partisan gerrymandering is “an important first step” in solving issues like education, roads and safe water. Event organizers say the town hall will provide information on the problems caused by gerrymandering and further details on the group’s proposal.

Similar sessions will be held in Northville and Canton in August. (DK/JK)