Yesterday, the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission held a public meeting at The TCF Center in Detroit to receive feedback on the draft redistricting maps for Michigan’s U.S. House of Representative districts and State Senate and House districts. Based on all reports, they heard plenty of feedback primarily regarding the elimination of nearly all the existing districts where a minority represents more than 50% of the voting age citizens of the district. The meeting lasted much longer than anticipated and some of the commissioners agreed changes are needed in the maps as originally drafted.
I don’t envy the commissioners, (who are all volunteers) for the job they must do. They are in the unenviable position where if they do their job properly everyone is going to be unhappy. If any party is happy that means they probably didn’t do their job. The truth of the matter, their job is not to make any party or any group of constituents happy, their job is to make the redistricting as fair as possible without regard to political party or special interest group.
The criteria that the commission is legally obligated to follow is not very well known and it has not been well publicized. In addition, much of the criticism I have read are lower priority criteria. Here is the purpose of the Commission with the criteria listed in priority order.
Section 2.2: Purpose. The purpose of the Commission is:
A. Exercise the Constitutional powers granted to the Commission which are legislative functions not subject to the control or approval of the legislature, and are exclusively reserved to the Commission.
B. Operate in an impartial and transparent manner that reinforces public confidence in the integrity of the redistricting process.
C. Conduct statewide public outreach and invite meaningful public participation in the redistricting process.
D. Adopt a redistricting plan for each of the following types of districts: state senate districts, state house of representative districts, and U.S. congressional districts no later than November 1 in the year immediately following the federal decennial census.
E. Engage in the process of redrawing district boundaries to guarantee equal voter representation through equal, or equivalent, population counts and other relevant criteria set forth in applicable federal and state laws.
F. Ensure compliance with the redistricting criteria set forth in article IV, section 6, subsection 13 of the Michigan Constitution being, in order of priority:
a. Districts shall be of equal population as mandated by the United States constitution, and shall comply with the voting rights act and other federal laws.
b. Districts shall be geographically contiguous. Island areas are considered to be contiguous by land to the county of which they are a part.
c. Districts shall reflect the state’s diverse population and communities of interest. Communities of interest may include, but shall not be limited to, populations that share cultural or historical characteristics or economic interests. Communities of interest do not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.
d. Districts shall not provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party. A disproportionate advantage to a political party shall be determined using accepted measures of partisan fairness.
e. Districts shall not favor or disfavor an incumbent elected official or a candidate.
f. Districts shall reflect consideration of county, city, and township boundaries.
g. Districts shall be reasonably compact.
In addition to the above priorities outlined by Michigan law, the results of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission must also be compliant with the national Voting Rights Act which says the following:
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is a nationwide prohibition against voting practices and procedures, (including redistricting plans) that discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in a language minority group. It prohibits not only election-related practices and procedures that are intended to be racially discriminatory, but also those that are shown to have a racially discriminatory result. The United States and private parties may file a lawsuit against a redistricting plan alleging that it violates Section 2.
Stay safe. Wash your hands regularly. Schedule your vaccine and booster. Wear your mask. Social distance.
Orchid of the Day: The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission for taking on a task that is so important, but very few will appreciate.
Onion of the Day: Steve Bannon for refusing to honor a congressional subpoena.
Quote of the Day: “I’m going to share a secret I’ve never spoken before. I am immunocompromised. I have multiple sclerosis. So, I’m grateful you’re all vaccinated.” CNN anchor John King told viewers on Tuesday that he has multiple sclerosis and is immunocompromised, and he thanked people for being vaccinated against COVID-19. King made the announcement during his program, Inside Politics, while talking about former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who died from COVID-19 complications on Monday.