redistricting

The overarching sentiment from the public comment period was the same – don’t divide my community into more than one political district.

70 residents attended Michigan Citizen Redistricting Committee's (MICRC) first public hearing Tuesday night in Jackson in-person to deliver public comment. Michael Smith repeated a sentiment that was shared often: boundaries between new political districts shouldn’t cut through existing school districts.

Michigan residents have a first-ever opportunity to be directly involved with the re-drawing of political district lines tonight when the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) hosts its first of 16 public hearings on the redistricting process.

The hearing from 6-9 p.m. Tuesday at One American Event Center in Jackson will also be livestreamed. Any Michigander can RSVP to attend the in person or online, and submit public comments virtually, here.

Michigan’s top election official and its redistricting panel asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday for more time to adopt new congressional and legislative maps, pointing to delayed census data.

The lawsuit, which was expected, seeks a Jan. 25 deadline — nearly three months later than the Nov. 1 date set in the state constitution. Due to setbacks from the pandemic, the U.S. Census Bureau is not expected to release redistricting data until mid- to late August and it might not be available in an easy-to-use format until Sept. 30.

The thirteen members of Michigan's new redistricting commission were randomly selected Monday, with the process livestreamed so all residents could watch.  

Voters approved the commission in 2018 to shift redistricting authority from politicians to citizens.

A federal judge has dismissed a legal challenge to Michigan’s voter-approved commission to draw new district lines for legislative and congressional seats.

Elizabeth Battiste is with the Voters Not Politicians campaign. She says lawsuits to block the commission have failed at every level so far. And that means recruiting people to sit on the commission will continue.

The Michigan Department of State announced on Tuesday that it has processed the first 1,000 successfully completed and notarized applications for the new 13-member Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. 

According to Jake Rollow, the department's Director of Communications, these applications were submitted between October 24 and November 30, 2019.

Registered voters have until June 1, 2020 to submit applications.

250,000 randomly selected Michigan voters will be getting an application in the mail in the next few days.  They're being invited to apply to serve on the state's citizen redistricting commission.  

Voters approved the anti-gerrymandering Proposal 2 in 2018. This changes who redraws district boundaries for the state legislature and Congress every ten years based on the U.S. Census. 

Invitations will soon be in the mail asking voters to apply to be part of Michigan’s new redistricting commission.

The Michigan Secretary of State has been handed a list of 250,000 randomly selected voters. They will be asked to apply for a position on the commission. The commission will be in charge of drawing political district lines.

People can also apply to serve whether or not they receive a letter.

People can now apply to be on the state's new 13-member Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced the launch of the online application process Thursday.

The U.S. Supreme Court says the Michigan Legislature does not have to immediately draw new congressional and legislative district lines. That decision was expected after the Supreme Court rejected efforts in other states to redraw boundaries.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been presented a budget by the state Legislature, but one area where Whitmer might have an issue with the budget is the state’s new redistricting commission.

Last November, Michigan’s voters approved a ballot initiative to create an independent redistricting commission. That commission costs money, for example to pay the salaries of the board members.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are asking a federal judge to toss a challenge to the state’s new redistricting law.

They say restrictions on who can serve on the new redistricting commission are legal.

The group Voters Not Politicians has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed last month by state Republicans.

The lawsuit seeks to shut down Michigan's new redistricting commission. The suit says the rules outlining who can serve on the commission are unconstitutional.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says she’s looking to the Legislature to provide enough money to ensure the new state redistricting commission can do its job.

The amendment approved by voters last November provides some money, but Benson says she wants money to recruit commission members from all walks of life.

In 2018, Michiganders voted to pass Proposal 2, a redistricting amendment that would create an independent commission to draw legislative and congressional district maps. Voters Not Politicians, the nonprofit organization that collected signatures to get the amendment on the ballot, is now taking steps to form that commission.

Prior to Prop 2, whichever party was in control in Lansing was responsible for drawing district maps.

Michigan’s top elections official says the Legislature should act quickly to draw new maps for legislative and congressional districts.

A federal court struck down Michigan’s district maps as too partisan. The court ruled Michigan’s lines provide an illegal advantage to Republicans in many districts. Republican leaders in the Legislature say they will appeal the ruling.

Was the last re-drawing of Michigan’s political district maps so biased in Republicans’ favor, they were illegal?

A group promoting a ballot initiative to redraw Michigan's voting districts got an unexpected boost with a $250,000 contribute from a national group. The funds came from the National Redistricting Action Fund, an affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which is headed by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. 

The Michigan Freedom Fund, a conservative advocacy organization, promotes an online video, paid for by recently-formed committee Protect My Vote, that asks voters to reject the Voters Not Politicians ballot initiative that would make a citizens’ commission responsible for redrawing district lines, instead of the legislature.