A bipartisan coalition backed by two former governors on Wednesday took the first step toward putting redistricting reform on the 2018 ballot, filing three initiatives that the group hopes will lead to more competitive elections in Colorado.

The three ballot initiatives seek to dilute the influence of the two major political parties in the state’s redistricting process by putting more unaffiliated voters on the commissions tasked with drawing the lines for state legislative and congressional districts.

Led by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Colorado and former state Rep. Kathleen Curry, a political independent, the effort has some high-profile backers in both parties.

Former House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, and former Secretary of State Bernie Buescher, a Grand Junction Democrat, are among the effort’s leaders, while former Republican Gov. Bill Owens and Democratic Gov. Dick Lamm have both endorsed the effort.

The attempt comes at a time when gerrymandering — the act of skewing district lines to favor one party or another — is under heightened scrutiny across the country. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year agreed to hear a case out of Wisconsin, in which it will be asked to decide whether partisan gerrymandering disenfranchises voters in violation of the Constitution.

Members of the coalition, which calls itself Fair Districts Colorado, hope that more competitive districts will lead to more moderate politicians, who are more accountable to voters.

“Under our current system, politicians pick their voters, instead of voters picking their politicians,” Curry said in a statement. “With our initiatives, more races will be decided by competitive November elections instead of in safe-seat primaries, making candidates actually compete for more voters.”

The effort’s success is far from assured. In a Wednesday morning conference call announcing the initiatives, McNulty said he expects fierce opposition from “those that have a vested interest” in the current system — chiefly, partisans on both sides.

The group will also have to clear a series of procedural hurdles before the measure gets to the ballot. A similar effort in 2016 fell apart after a legal challenge.

Two of the initiatives — one remaking the Congressional redistricting commission, and another requiring that competitiveness be a key consideration in map drawing — are statutory measures, which require at least 98,492 signatures from registered voters. Voters can approve these initiatives with a simple majority.

The signature and vote thresholds will be significantly higher for the third initiative, which has to amend the state Constitution in order to revise the legislative redistricting commission.