A Republican strategist has filed a complaint against Michigan’s Bureau of Elections alleging state officials acted improperly when advising the group pushing for an independent redistricting commission on the 2018 ballot. Robert LaBrant, who currently serves as counsel for the Lansing-based Sterling Corporation, submitted the complaint Thursday. He wrote the bureau’s review of the petition language submitted by the group Voters Not Politicians was a “misplaced, over-zealous attempt at being customer friendly even though the service the bureau provided VNP is illegal.”
“The Bureau’s conduct went far beyond formatting issues and provided suggestions and critiques of the text in the proposal,” the complaint reads. “It is not the role of the Election Bureau to provide drafting or legal advice to a ballot question.”
Last week, Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers approved the form of a petition submitted by Voters Not Politicians, which would alter the state Constitution to form an independent redistricting commission to draw district lines for Congress and the state Legislature every 10 years.
Full Article: Complaint claims state elections bureau illegally assisted redistricting group | MLive.com.