mccann

State Rep. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, shows one of what he called the "most egregious examples" of gerrymandering in Michigan at a June 6 press conference. McCann is introducing new legislation in Lansing that would create a nonpartisan commission to draw the state's legislative districts.Yvonne Zipp | yzipp@mlive.com

(MLive file photo)

JACKSON, MI - Political districts often aren't intuitive. They curve and bend across the map, evading common sense - but aren't drawn without purpose.

Legislators use redistricting to gerrymander their voting districts to keep them in office, according to Voters Not Politicians, a nonpartisan group that hopes to change that.

The Michigan group is hosting a Jackson town hall from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, at the Jackson District Library, 244 W. Michigan Ave.

"It is an obvious conflict of interest for lawmakers to create their own districts," said Voters Not Politicians spokesperson Katie Fahey. "It's politicians choosing their voters, when it should be voters choosing their politicians. Whenever one political party has total control over the process, it inevitably writes maps that protect its own interests."

The group is hosting about 20 other town halls across Michigan this month.

The town halls will explain how politicians use gerrymandering to their advantage and how to end the manipulation.

Later this spring, the group will start collecting signatures to amend Michigan's Constitution to allow a panel of citizens to draw the congressional and state legislative districts. The governor and state legislators currently have this power.

The group will need 315,654 signatures in a 180-day period to get the issue on the November 2018 ballot in Michigan.