VNP in the News
Only one-fourth of draft Senate district voting plans were fairer than a previous, unconstitutional map from 2021, a coalition of Michigan advocates found in a new analysis. Jamie Lyons-Eddy, executive director of the nonpartisan group Voters Not Politicians, said she expected more than three of the 12 maps to be fairer than the unconstitutional districts […]
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[Excerpts taken from interview transcript] David Fair: This is a major election year. There’s a presidential election to decide. Michigan will be electing a new U.S. senator and a number of representatives. State legislative seats will be decided. And, of course, there are a glut of local races and ballot issues that will be decided by […]
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This week, members of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) finished drawing up 12 options for their second attempt at redrawing six state Senate districts. It’s a new process for Michigan where a citizen’s panel, randomly selected and partisanly balanced, redraws congressional and state legislative voting districts rather than the Legislature. Voters in Michigan approved […]
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Special elections for two vacant seats in the Michigan house of representatives flipped control back to Democrats, who organizers say could use their restored trifecta in the state to pass legislation protecting voting rights and election administration. A push to codify voter protections stalled after two Democratic lawmakers resigned and the party lost its majority in […]
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Despite federal laws regulating how polls must accommodate voters, a recent audit of 261 polling places in Metro Detroit found that voter-assist terminals were often not plugged in, missing headphones, showing error codes, or placed in ways that did not guarantee privacy. The greatest barrier to voting at these locations: a lack of accessible entrances. This included […]
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A three-judge federal court panel has affirmed new boundaries drawn by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) for some state House seats. “Federal law provides us no basis to reject the Commission’s remedial House plan,” the panel wrote in an 11-page decision released Wednesday. In December, a federal court ordered the MICRC to redraw a previous […]
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A federal court this week approved a new plan for Michigan’s state House districts around metro-Detroit. That’s after judges declared seven districts in the old map unconstitutional because they were drawn predominantly based on race, in violation of the 14th Amendment. The decision means maps drawn by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will be used in […]
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The federal three-judge panel overseeing the redrawing of Detroit’s state House districts on Wednesday ruled that the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission Motown Sound FC E1 remedy map meets muster with federal law and will therefore be implemented for the upcoming 2024 elections. In a per curiam opinion released in Agee v. Benson (USWDM Docket No. 22-00272), the federal panel […]
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The Michigan House Elections Committee on Tuesday discussed two bills, House Bill 5551 and House Bill 5550, that would change procedures for recalls and eligibility to serve on elections panels. State Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) provided testimony for House Bill 5551. The bill “prohibits individuals convicted of certain election-related crimes from serving on the Board of State […]
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Detroit-area House Democrats who would see significant changes in districts redrawn this week by the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission said in interviews that the new lines were surprising and somewhat disappointing, but they were ready to roll in terms of outreach in communities they don’t currently represent. Members of the commission on Wednesday voted to […]
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