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Michigan League of Women Voters sues state for gerrymandering

Michigan's 14th congressional district
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The Michigan League of Women voters is taking on the state. It says Michigan's legislative districts as currently drawn are unfair. It accuses the state and Republican controlled Legislature of drawing the district lines in secret back in 2011, then rushing the electoral map through the legislative process.

The lawsuit asks a court to declare the current electoral map unconstitutional. It also asks the court to require the state to redraw the lines fairly.

“What’s at stake is the future of our voters here in Michigan having their votes count,” says the League's Judy Karandjeff.

“Michigan’s gerrymandered districts have proven to yield equally unequal results at a time when our country is equally divided,” she said.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office says they haven’t reviewed the lawsuit yet and that the office doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

How the state draws its district lines in the future could be decided by voters in 20-18. A group recently turned in signatures to put the issue on the state ballot.

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R
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