- The U.S. Supreme Court has denied the Michigan Redistricting Commission's request to invalidate its order reapportioning 13 Detroit-area seats in Congress.
- The commission challenged a December ruling by a federal appeals court panel that found Michigan's 2021 congressional map was illegally racially influenced.
- The commission ordered seven state House districts to be redrawn for the 2024 election and a later deadline for six state Senate districts.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied the Michigan Redistricting Commission's request to invalidate its order to redraw 13 Detroit-area seats in Congress, a decision that could make Congressional maps even more competitive. Highly sexual.
The redistricting commission told the high court that a three-judge federal appeals court panel in December ruled that Michigan's 2021 congressional map was illegally influenced by race. He had asked the High Court to set aside the judgment. The commission found that although nearly 80% of Detroit residents are black, the black voting-age population in the Detroit area's 13 districts is mostly in the 35% to 45% range. Yes, in some constituencies it is as low as 19%.
The committee orders the boundaries of seven state House districts to be redrawn for the 2024 election, and a later deadline for six state Senate districts because the senator's term does not expire until 2026. Set.
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Draft maps for the state Legislature must be submitted by February 2nd, with a final deadline of March 29th.
The Michigan State Capitol is located in Lansing, Michigan. The U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 2024, denied the Michigan Redistricting Commission's request to invalidate an order reapportioning 13 Detroit-area seats in Congress, a decision that likely will decide seats in the House of Representatives. The legal map becomes more competitive. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
The Supreme Court did not explain its decision in an order released Monday. A lawyer for the commission immediately responded to an email seeking comment.
John Bursch, an attorney for the Detroit voters who sued the commission, said voters were “very happy” with the order. Barsh said the commission could still appeal, but said the Supreme Court's order is “a strong indicator that such an appeal is likely to fail.”
It's unclear how the new maps will be drawn, but David Durio, a political science professor at Oakland University in Michigan, said the number of “Detroit-centric” districts that are solidly Democratic will likely increase. . That would likely affect suburban districts, he said, resulting in increased competition.
“You're going to find that these districts, or parts of them, are actually the theater of the battle for control of the state Legislature,” Dulio said.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office in recent days supported the committee's request to the Supreme Court. The party said in its filing that Democrats are concerned about drawing new district boundaries before the August primary.
“My commitment to maintaining fair and secure elections remains strong, and I look forward to working with secretaries over the coming months to ensure everyone has a safe and accessible election this year,” Benson said in a statement Monday. I'm looking forward to getting ready.”
Michigan Democrats successfully flipped the state House and Senate while retaining the governorship in 2022, giving them full control of state government for the first time in 40 years. Part of the party's success was attributable to the 2021 parliamentary map redrawn by the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.
State lawmakers drew the lines between Michigan's legislative and statehouse seats until voters in 2018 established an independent commission to handle the once-in-a-decade task. The commission's first map was created for the 2022 election.
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Experts repeatedly told the 2021 redistricting commission that certain racial percentages are needed to comply with federal law. But the appellate court judges disagreed.
“The record here overwhelmingly, in fact, shows that it is inevitable that the commission drew the boundaries of plaintiffs' districts primarily on the basis of race. “We hold that the action was taken in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution,” Judge Raymond said. Kethledge wrote.
According to Michigan State University's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, the redistricting process reduced the number of majority-minority districts in Congress from 15 to five.
In the 2022 midterm elections, the first elections after redistricting, the number of Black members of Congress will decrease from 20 to 17. For the first time since the early 1950s, Detroit, a majority-black city, has no black members in Congress.
