“This calamitous ruling is a devastating blow to voters’ rights,” Jamie Lyons-Eddy, executive director of Voters Not Politicians, said. “The decision fundamentally inhibits the ability of voters in this country to advocate for their own constitutional rights. In our country, political power belongs to the people, and it is not the place for ideological judges to decide that the people have no right to advocate for their right to vote and freely elect their preferred representatives. If you are not alarmed by the pattern of extremist judges tearing down voter protections in America, you’re not paying attention.”
Voters Not Politicians
The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) approved its nine collaborative proposed maps and an additional six from individual commissioners for the state Senate, state House and congressional districts earlier this month. The lines will go into effect for the 2022 elections and be in place for 10 years. Now experts are weighing in on the maps as the commission — which is composed of four Republicans, four Democrats and five independents — prepares for another round of public hearings starting in Ann Arbor Thursday.
This year’s round of redistricting is already crumbling into partisanship and court challenges in multiple states, even as voters pay more attention than ever to new political maps that will shape elections for a decade
After months of hearings on legislation restricting voting rights, Michigan Republicans, as expected, unveiled on Monday a citizen-led ballot measure. The advantage of going this route is that the GOP-controlled Legislature has the power to approve it, thus going around Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has vowed to veto bills that hit her desk.
In Michigan, Republican lawmakers this week introduced a 39-bill package that would ban unsolicited mass mailing of absentee ballot applications, prohibit pre-paid postage on absentee ballot envelopes for absentee ballots, require a photo ID, curb the hours people could drop off their ballots in boxes and require video surveillance of such drop boxes.