LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A special master appointed to the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission signed off on the newly drawn map, stating that it addressed the violations of the constitution determined by a court.
What’s in the new map?
MICRC submitted a new map, called “Motown Sound FC E1,” with recommendation to the court ahead of the March 29 deadline but received pushback from Detroit residents.
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The assigned Special Master, Benard Grofman, a professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) said that the map appeared to comply with the federal court’s order.
“There are always multiple ways in which maps can be drawn,” Grofman said. “I did not identify major flaws with the (Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission) map that would suggest it failed to address the race-related constitution concerns of the court.”
The previous maps were initially ruled unconstitutional for violating the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
“From my social science perspective, I view the MI-IRC as having been able to address and remedy the race-related constitutional defects in its previous map, but the decision as to whether its remedy is an adequate one is, of course, a legal decision for this court,” Grofman said.
Residents of Detroit pushback on the new map.
Two weeks ago, the lawyers who won the initial case against the MICRC filed another suit against the new map that the commission submitted.
“Because of the immense advantage that incumbents enjoy, that virtually ensures that the results of the 2022 election — conducted using the invalidated House map — will essentially be locked in for the foreseeable future,” the filing reads.
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The plaintiffs in the case draw attention to the fact that no incumbents share any of the newly drawn districts, proof that incumbency was a consideration while drawing the new maps; a move forbidden in the rules governing the redrawing process. An analysis by the plaintiffs’ expert, Sean Trende of RealClearPolitics, found there was only a 1% chance the maps could be randomly drawn so that no incumbent was facing off against another according to the Detroit News.
Latest map receives overwhelming commission support.
At the end of February, the commission voted in a 10-3 vote to approve a map titled “Motown Sound FC E1” with adjustments to House Districts 1-14, and a change to District 16.
Out of the 13 member commission, all the Democrat members voted in favor, as well as four independent commissioners and two Republicans.
The map was chosen as the best out of 11 proposed maps that the commission created.
Commission endures several members stepping away amidst map redrawing.
Ahead of January, three members stepped down for various reasons, prompting a random lottery process to select new commissioners, including: Elaine Andrade (Democrat), Donna Callaghan (Democrat), and Marcus Muldoon (Republican).
The 13 member commission is composed of four Democrat Commissioners, five Independent Commissioners, and four Republican Commissioners.
The Commission’s next steps include planning and waiting.
The MICRC now awaits the court’s decision, which will be made by March 29, either accepting the maps or a separate map made by the special master. The final map will be used for the upcoming House primary and general elections later this year.
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