Gerrymandering is a term you might be familiar with thanks to your high school civics class.
For those of us that may need a refresher, gerrymandering is the practice of manipulating geographic boundaries of electoral districts in a way that gives one party a disproportionate advantage over its political opponents.
It was an approach traditionally used in Michigan and other states to redraw voting district boundaries during mandated redistricting, which occurs every 10 years following the U.S. Census with the purpose of ensuring that each district is equal in population and that every person and community has fair political representation.
This year, the process is different.
For the first time in Michigan history, an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) will draw the boundaries of Michigan’s state legislative and U.S. congressional districts, with input from the public in 2021.
In September 2020, 13 commissioners were randomly selected from a pool of 9,330 interested citizens to serve on the first ever commission. The MICRC is required to meet seven areas of criteria when creating fair and representative district maps (in order of priority):
- Federal requirements of equal population in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
- Geographically contiguous land (All parts of a district must touch each other.)
- Communities of Interest
- No partisan gerrymandering
- No protection for incumbents.
- Consider existing county, city, and township lines
- Districts must be reasonably compact – No more snake-shaped districts.
The MICRC cannot complete this redistricting process without our help. Individuals and communities across the state have a historic opportunity to give input that will help shape our election district maps for the next decade, resulting in fairer representation for every single voter. You’ll notice one of the seven criteria listed above that will play a critical role in this redistricting process is the consideration of Communities of Interest (COI). A COI can be a group of any size whose members share cultural, economic, historic, and/or other shared interests. Examples might include a school district, religious community, a racial or ethnic group, tourism area, arts organization, or a community defined by natural features. Collecting public input on COI’s is designed to keep common interest groups intact so they can elect representatives who will be responsive to their unique interests.
CALL TO ACTION
It is not too late to make your voice heard! Throughout 2021, the MICRC is traveling around the state gathering feedback from as many Michiganders as possible to be fully prepared to draw district lines that give all Michiganders a voice. Visit the MICRC website to learn more about upcoming meetings and townhalls and follow the Commission on Facebook to stay up to date in real time. Most importantly, visit https://www.michigan-mapping.org/ to submit written testimony and a map describing your community of interest.
