A group trying to get a redistricting measure on the November ballot says arguments against the measure by the state Attorney General are redundant.
Schuette submitted a brief to the Michigan Supreme Court – it’s currently deciding if it will look at a court case filed by a group that wants to keep the proposal off the ballot. This comes after a 3-0 decision by the Michigan Court of Appeals that ordered the state’s election committee to send the proposal to the ballot.
Katie Fayhe is with the redistricting group, Voters Not Politicians. She said the legal team believes Schuette’s brief, “doesn’t raise any new issues.”
“It’s unfortunate that our Attorney General is deciding to do this in the 11th hour, weigh in on the lawsuit, trying to defend our current redistricting process,” she said.
In his brief, Schuette said the measure shouldn’t go on the ballot because it would change the structure of the state’s government.
“There’s nothing in his brief that we did not anticipate, frankly, as far back as a year ago,” said attorney for Voters Not Politicians, Jim Lancaster. “The legal issues, you know, that we understood would be raised are well known.”
But Lancaster said Schuette’s decision to file a brief to support the opposition could have an impact on the Supreme Court. But he’s not sure if it will impact voters. He said, “We’re sure the Supreme Court will give it some weight, on the political aspect we’ll leave that to others to opine on.”