A panel of federal judges has ruled that certain state House and Senate legislative maps drawn by Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission violate the Voting Rights Act. The ruling states that the maps dilute Black voting power in 13 Detroit area legislative districts and these districts must be redrawn. The commission, created by a statewide ballot initiative in 2018 to remove partisan politics from redistricting, consists of citizen volunteers randomly selected from three pools of applicants. The commission’s process was transparent, with numerous public meetings held to gather input and thousands of public comments received. The commission’s maps for the 2022 election cycle were deemed fair to both major political parties by experts.
Michigan’s previous district maps were drawn by Republican politicians and have been criticized as extreme partisan gerrymandering. In response, a movement called Voters Not Politicians collected signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to take redistricting out of the hands of politicians. The new maps drawn by the commission aimed to accurately reflect Michigan voters’ preferences for Republican and Democratic candidates, resulting in Democrats winning control of both state legislative chambers for the first time since 1984.
The new maps have faced challenges, with a group of Detroit voters filing a lawsuit alleging that certain districts violated the Voting Rights Act. A three-judge panel ruled that 13 districts in the Detroit metro area were unconstitutional as they violated the equal protection clause. The commission appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the court refused to stop the process of redrawing the maps. The commission now has until February 2 to present redrawn maps for public comment, with final maps due in March.
The decline in majority Black districts in Detroit is not unique to the 2022 maps and is a result of the declining Black population in the city over the past decade. The challenge lies in applying the Voting Rights Act, as maps cannot crack or pack minority voters. The commission aimed to strike a balance between packing and cracking Black voters, but plaintiffs argue that higher percentages of Black voters are needed to win primaries due to the number of candidates running. The finalization of the new maps will have implications for the 2024 elections, including a shorter window for candidates to organize primary campaigns and the possibility of Black voters being packed into fewer districts.
