The Headlines
On Wednesday, the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) successfully voted to send a revised set of State House maps to the court. Some said the commission couldn’t get this done, but Voters Not Politicians had faith in the constitutional amendment we designed and most importantly, in the voters who support independent redistricting.
While the commission could have done better to improve partisan fairness, Voters Not Politicians agrees with the majority of commissioners that of the available options, the Motown Sound FC E1 map did the best job responding to public comment, addressing the issues identified by the court, and following constitutional criteria.
In Lansing this week, the State Senate passed legislation to ban guns at polling places, a piece of pro-voter legislation that Voters Not Politicians has been pushing for over a year!
The Details
Redistricting
- On February 28th, The commission successfully voted to send the Motown Sound FC E1 map, a variation of the original Motown Sound map, to be reviewed by the court. This map was passed in the second round of voting across partisan lines with support from 2 Republicans, all 4 Democrats (including both commissioners from Detroit), and 4 unaffiliated commissioners.
- The main difference between this map and the original Motown Sound was that Commissioner Brittni Kellom wanted to reunite specific communities of interest in Northwest Detroit, specifically the Grandmont-Rosedale and Rosedale Park communities from District 4 to 16, and the Northwest community from District 8 to 4. This resulted in shifting populations in Districts 3 and 4 in the Detroit communities at the northern borders of Dearborn and Dearborn Heights.
- Motown Sound FC E1 has the same partisan fairness metrics and number of opportunity districts as the original Motown Sound. However, compared to the map used in the 2022 elections, it scores slightly worse on partisan fairness metrics such as Lopsided Margin and Mean-Median difference. That being said, the revised map is still much better than what Michiganders lived with the previous decade, but the goal is always scores of zero which would represent no partisan bias at all.
- Here are the next steps for redistricting, according to the timeline outlined by the court:
- March 8 is the deadline for the plaintiffs to submit objections to the MICRC mapping plan to the court.
- March 15 is the deadline for the MICRC to respond to the plaintiff’s objections and for the Reviewing Special Master to submit a report to the court on whether the MICRC’s plan satisfies constitutional requirements.
- By March 29, the court will approve a remedial mapping plan for the Michigan House.
- By April 12, the parties are required to agree on a timeline for the redraw of the six Michigan Senate districts voided by the court.
- The Mapping Special Master assigned by the court has already submitted an alternate mapping plan to the court, but that plan will not be made public unless the court rejects the commission’s submitted maps.
Legislative Lobbying
- House Bills 4127 & 4128, banning open carry of firearms at polling places and absent voter count locations, passed the full MI senate on party lines on Thursday. The bills need to be returned to the House for concurrence once a pro-voter majority is restored, but we don’t anticipate any other delays.
- This common-sense election protection reform is not a new or untested idea. Similar legislation already exists in other states, including Texas, Florida, and Mississippi.
- These bills were the first project that VNP volunteer Legislative Liaisons worked on, back in February of 2023. Our Legislative Liaisons are volunteers who attend coffee hours and develop relationships with their Michigan legislators in their home districts. This powerful program complements the work our staff is doing, and reminds our lawmakers that their constituents prioritize pro-voter policies.
Keep in Mind
- In 2018, Michigan voters, including over 80% of Detroit voters, made clear that they want maps drawn in an independent and transparent process. Allowing our districts to be drawn by one person, in secret, with no public input, would be a disservice to Detroiters and several steps backward for our democracy.
- Michigan’s fair, transparent, redistricting system is still worlds better than what we used to have, and what most states have: maps drawn in secret, by and for politicians. And through this redraw, we have the opportunity to strengthen the process going forward.
- All voters have the constitutional right to vote without threats or intimidation, which is why everyone should support common-sense regulations like prohibiting firearms at polling places.
What’s Next
We will know by the end of March if the court will accept the MICRC’s new map. The court should accept the maps submitted by the voter-approved MICRC, and not undermine the will of Michigan voters by allowing one person, a special master with unknown political motivations and no interaction with the people of Michigan, to draw our legislative district lines.
Voters Not Politicians is carefully reviewing the House redraw process and preparing for the redraw of six Michigan Senate districts, and we will continue working closely with our volunteers and partner organizations to share information. We will take advantage of these next few weeks to provide public education on Michigan’s redistricting process and encourage voter participation in the next phase.
In addition to banning open-carry at polling places, we’re supporting several pieces of pro-democracy legislation we expect to move in the coming weeks, including:
- Senate Bills 401, 402, 403, & 404 (Michigan Voting Rights Act) are expected to start moving through the legislative process in March. These bills will protect voters in a number of ways, including requiring translated ballots and voting information, improving access for disabled voters, and providing voters and advocates with legal tools to fight discriminatory voting rules in court. This package still needs to pass through both chambers. VNP worked with partners at All Voting is Local, Promote the Vote and ACCESS to host an educational event for faith groups and other organizations. You can access our MI VRA social media toolkit here.
- Senate Bill 494, ending prison gerrymandering, is expected on the Senate Elections agenda for a second time some time in March. This bill will need to pass through both legislative chambers before heading to Governor Whitmer’s desk. (Prison gerrymandering is the practice of counting people for redistricting purposes in their prison locations rather than at their home address.)
- Senate Bills 603 & 604, introduced last October, are expected to start moving through the legislative process this spring as well. These bills will clean up the recount process, including preventing taxpayers from paying for frivolous, politically motivated recounts.
Voters Not Politicians will continue to leverage our political influence and vast volunteer network to champion pro-voter legislation in Lansing.
Want to receive these updates in your inbox? Use this link to join our weekly update list.
