The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Updates Blog

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, […]

The commission continued drafting State House districts in Southeast Michigan in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Commissioners aimed to keep Asian-American populations together as they drew district lines in Northern Oakland County, Shelby Township, and Canton. Commissioners also began drawing in the Tri-Cities and Thumb area drawing districts surround the city of Saginaw. Next week, […]

Michigan residents are now able to view and comment on the present commission working draft maps for the U.S. House, State Senate, and State House. These maps can be accessed from the MICRC website. The commission continued drawing State House districts in the metro Detroit area, starting today in the Flint area. The current State […]

The Commission continued drawing State House district maps in SE Michigan, extending Northward into Oakland and Macomb counties. Commissioners continued to receive guidance from VRA Litigation Counsel Bruce Adelson to ensure that they draw maps in adherence to the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and do not “crack” or “pack” minority populations. Draft districts include Royal […]

The commission has decided to move forward with interviewing Fink-Bressack for the role of Local Counsel. This was the Local Counsel Subcommittee’s sole recommendation to the rest of the MICRC. Two additional firms, James Lancaster and Honigman, had also applied but were disqualified. James Lancaster did not qualify due to scoring too low on the […]

The commission finished reconciling both State Senate and Congressional districts, paying additional attention to Communities of Interest and minority populations in the Tri-Cities area, Metro Detroit, and Muskegon. Afterward, the Commission began drawing State House districts beginning in the city of Detroit. The commission also voted to allow Election Data Services (EDS) to expand its […]

The Michigan Independent Citizen’s Redistricting Commission has begun drafting Congressional district maps Thursday afternoon, with Commissioners Clark and Vallette drawing the first district in East Detroit. This draft district included Warren, the Grosse Pointes, and Downriver cities such as Allen Park, Melvindale, and Ecorse. The next district, drawn by Commissioner Weiss, included the Western half […]