The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Updates Blog

The MICRC voted today to approve one of their State Senate draft maps to publish prior to their second round of public hearings by a 5-4 vote. This was voted upon after commissioners spent the morning making edits to correct for partisan fairness, going against the commission’s original plan to determine which draft maps would […]

The commission continued towards its goals towards achieving partisan fairness and VRA compliance within their State House, State Senate, and Congressional district maps. They spent the morning adjusting House districts in metro Detroit, Downriver, and West Michigan to check for population deviation, resulting in Grand Rapids being split along the river. Following the lunch break, […]

The commission continued adjusting their district maps in their State House draft, altering districts to ensure partisan fairness and Voting Rights Act (VRA) compliance. Among these shifts included creating two VRA districts around Grand Rapids, shifting district lines along the Lakeshore, and creating a district that includes both Midland and Bay City. Although the overall […]

As the commission ramps up its mapping days to ensure draft maps are completed before the first round of public hearings, we at Voters Not Politicians have noticed a great increase in coverage on the commissioners and their drafting process. Our blog aimed to update the public on the MICRC when such coverage was not […]

After deciding to reduce the number of public hearings for more mapping days, the Commission on Monday began one of its longer mapping sessions. Scheduled from 10 AM to 8 PM, the commission voted for these longer meeting days to ensure that the district maps are not only VRA compliant, but also display partisan fairness. […]

The commission received a partisan fairness analysis report from racial bloc voting expert, Dr. Lisa Handley, this morning. Evaluating all three map types (State House, State Senate, and Congressional), Dr. Handley used multiple measures to determine whether or not any of the commission’s draft maps give a partisan advantage to any political party. The commission […]

To ensure that the upcoming district maps display partisan fairness and will be compliant with the Voting Rights Act, the commission voted today to meet Monday through Friday next week as well as Monday and Tuesday the week of October 11th. This motion passed 11-2, with commissioners Lange and Wagner voting no. As these additional […]

The commission began reviewing and rectifying their State House, State Senate, and Congressional district plans after completing their first set of drafts. Creating separate drafts of the original district plans, these edits aimed to rectify past issues of population deviation and ensure that minority communities are represented without being packed. One alternative Congressional district draft […]

The commission has finished drawing and reconciling State House districts this afternoon, completing the first draft of district maps along with the State Senate and Congressional district maps. However, the commission will return to the Senate and Congressional maps to address population deviations. All of the draft district plans can be found here. The commission […]

The commission has completed more than half of the State House district map, beginning their session by drafting district lines surrounding the cities of Flint and Saginaw, and in the thumb. The commission also drew district lines in the Lansing area. The commission continued drafting districts around the state including two districts in Ann Arbor, […]