LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – New maps for several of Michigan’s state House Districts in metro Detroit are currently undergoing revisions after a recent federal court ruled they were unconstitutional. 

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) began the process on Tuesday. Meetings are scheduled through Thursday as the team is tasked with redrawing more than a dozen districts ahead of the next election.

What’s the process?

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On Wednesday, the Commission reconvened to continue work on the faulty districts, paying particular attention to Districts 2, 3, and 4. 

Commissioner Anthony Eid, a neutral member of the commission, expressed how he strongly disagreed with the changes. 

“Now we’re looking at districts 3 and 4 districts west of what was shut down, in Districts 4,3, 15, and a little bit of 16, in my opinion as this commissions only middle eastern members, it completely disenfranchises what hundreds of people told us.” 

“We’re going from three potential districts that support the Arab American community of interest, to now one,” he said.  

“I disagree with you completely,” responded Rebecca Szetela, another fellow neutral party member on the commission. “Remember, I grew up in Dearborn and lived there for 35 years. What this map is trying to honor is the Arab American community in Dearborn and Dearborn Heights, where they are mostly distributed.” 

Commissioner Szetela, who serves as the MICRC Chairperson suggested that the new tentative map was actually better than the previous one as it would keep Dearborn and Dearborn Heights into two districts. 

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“To the contrary I think this is actually better for the Arab American population, and it’s consistent with the community of interest maps that access has submitted to us,” she added. 

Nate Fink, an attorney with the commission, weighed in on the debate slightly, reminding the commissioners the importance of making changes to districts that were not struck down only “as reasonably necessary.” 

The court expects that these redistrict lines are not only the unconstitutional districts, according to Fink, but also other districts as reasonably necessary will be redrawn as he referenced the court order. 

What’s the reason for redistricting?

A court decision delivered before 2024 determined the commission’s redrawn maps violated the Equal Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and required the commission to redraw the districts ahead of the next elections. 

“We enjoin the Secretary of State from holding further elections in these districts as they are currently drawn,” the opinion said. “And we will direct that the parties appear before this court in early January to discuss how to proceed with redrawing them.”

Redistricting commission has other setbacks besides the court decision.

At the end of December, the commission replaced three positions that became vacant after members chose to resign for various reasons. Elaine Andrade, Donna Callaghan, and Marcus Muldoon were selected to fill the loss of a Republican and two Democrat candidates. 

Two of the former members, Douglas Clark and Dustin Witjes, were found to be living outside of Michigan while continuing to serve on the commission and collecting a nearly $40,000 stipend for their work. The pair tendered their resignations a week apart. 

Next steps for the commission.

The commission has scheduled meetings for tomorrow to continue altering districts to make them comply with the court order and have a proposal ready for public comment by Feb. 2.