密歇根新闻广播 请愿书试图让密歇根获得真正的民主

The founders¹ of our system attempted to give this country, and later this state, something called representative democracy.

That’s supposed to mean electing people we trust to represent our best interests to make laws for the state and nation. That generally worked pretty well. Not that it was perfect, and for a long time some of us were shut out of participating. But eventually that got fixed².

Unfortunately, in recent years, the system has become badly broken. Term limits have been a disaster. But what may be even worse is the rise of extreme gerrymandering. That means, jiggering the district lines in such a way as to give one party complete dominance.

That’s what’s happened in this state. Though Michigan usually votes Democratic in national elections, Republicans have been in control of most or all branches of state government the last several times new lines have been drawn³.

Rather than keep communities together, they’ve drawn the lines to give themselves maximum partisan⁴ advantage. As a result, we have elections in which Democrats⁵ win a majority of the statewide vote for legislature or Congress, but end up with only a minority of the seats.

Worse, most districts are drawn in a way to make them completely uncompetitive in a general election, no matter what. That’s why Brian Banks, a known criminal, could be elected despite a long string of felonies.

Community interests are also ignored.

Kalamazoo and Battle Creek⁶, which rightly were in the same congressional district for decades, are no longer. Rural Oakland County voters are combined with the Grosse Pointes and some of the roughest and poorest inner-city neighborhoods.

Requiring a fair way to draw district lines is essential if we are ever to make democracy work again.

Members of a non-partisan, non-profit group called Voters Not Politicians has been working for months to find out what voters want, and how to draw up a state constitutional amendment⁷ to give it to them. They’ve come up with a workable plan for a fair and bipartisan commission that would draw the boundaries.

Finally, they submitted petition language to the Board of State Canvassers on June 28, so they could start collecting the more than 315,000 signatures they’d need to get it on next year’s ballot⁸.

But the board still hasn’t acted.

And Voters Not Politicians is complaining they are losing valuable time. I wasn’t surprised at the delay when I heard that the petition they submitted was eight pages long, in tiny type.

But Walt Sorg, one of their guiding spirits, explained. “The document is really long because (under state law) we are required to include all current language that is either repealed⁹ or abrogated¹⁰ by our amendment.”

Sorg, a longtime, experienced Lansing hand who has worked in all three branches of state government did say that if it gets on the ballot, voters will fortunately see only a one hundred word summary. It makes sense to make sure the language is right; Lieutenant¹¹ Governor Brian Calley had to throw out a bunch of signatures after his petition drive went off half-cocked.

But I am hoping that Voters Not Politicians can get their amendment before the people as soon as possible. The future of both representative, and responsible, government may be at stake.

1 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

4 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

5 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

7 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

8 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

9 repealed   

撤销，废除( repeal的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The Labour Party repealed the Act. 工党废除了那项法令。
• The legislature repealed the unpopular Rent Act. 立法机关废除了不得人心的租借法案。

10 abrogated   

废除（法律等）( abrogate的过去式和过去分词 )； 取消； 去掉； 抛开

参考例句：

• The president abrogated an old law. 总统废除了一项旧法令。
• This law has been abrogated. 这项法令今已取消。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。