The fruits of this process were what one would expect. Previously, the Michigan legislature apportioned its districts to account for existing county and municipal boundaries, producing legislative districts tied to real communities. At the behest of their “experts,” commissioners did away with this precedent, sacrificing the integrity of rural communities to prop up the population figures of majority Democratic districts in the name of “partisan fairness.” Unsurprisingly, Michigan Democrats flipped the state legislature and captured a majority of congressional seats during the 2022 midterms. //

Promote the Vote also received $10 million from the aforementioned Sixteen Thirty Fund. The initiative constitutionalized early and absentee voting, mandated state-funded ballot drop boxes, and permitted the private takeover of election operations.

The left’s interest in promoting absentee voting and drop boxes and their connection with ballot harvesting is by now well documented. More troubling is the initiative’s permanent establishment of private funding for election administration. //

The strategy of big liberal dark money in propping up VNP in Michigan is obvious: Destroy the viability of GOP candidates and resecure the state’s position in the “blue wall.” To accomplish this goal, use the initiative loophole and millions of out-of-state dark money under the guise of a “nonpartisan grassroots coalition” to circumvent the existing legislative body and dupe voters into delivering their redistricting process into the hands of leftist academics. Then, use the same tactic to achieve additional electoral reforms, protected from repeal by the state Constitution, solidifying a structural advantage for Democrats in the state’s legislature and congressional delegation. //

VNP’s success in Michigan is a stark warning of how the left is finding new ways to destroy whatever remains of our constitutional order. It is a strategy that can, is, and will be replicated nationwide. Welcome to the age of “nonpartisan” politics.