Supporters of changing the way Oklahoma draws political district lines refiled its petition Thursday.
People Not Politicians is working to get a ballot initiative to a vote of the people to take redistricting out of the hands of lawmakers and give it to a bipartisan, independent commission.
Executive Director Andy Moore says he expects there to be pushback from leadership in the House and Senate over the initiative.
“We’re not surprised to see them continue to want to have the power to gerrymander our state. However, we believe that’s not in the public’s best interest, and that’s not the way to have truly fair and free elections. That’s why we believe people of Oklahoma will support our petition for an independent redistricting commission.”
The group was forced to rewrite the ballot summary – often called the gist – after the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled it lacked detail.
The newly filed petition, now known as State Question 810, will have to go through another challenge period, although the justices already ruled the rest of the bill constitutional.
Following the challenge period, supporters will have 90 days to gather nearly 178,000 signatures to get the measure before voters.
