Michigan residents have the opportunity to submit to the state Legislature their ideas of how congressional and state redistricting lines should be drawn.
Leaders of the both the House Redistricting and Elections Committee and the Senate Redistricting announced this week that their committees will accept proposals from the public detailing plans of how district lines should be redrawn to reflect state population changes calculated in the 2010 census.
Census data for 2010 released in March revealed the state’s population decreased by about 54,000, down to 9.88 million, from 2000-10, including a dramatic loss in Detroit. The Legislature must agree on redrawn district lines reflecting these population changes by Nov. 1.
Now the public has the opportunity to be part of the processes, said Amber McCann, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe.
“The Senate wants to make sure the redistricting process is open to the public and transparent,” McCann said.
Bernie Porn, president of Lansing polling firm EPIC-MRA, said it’s not surprising these committees are seeking the public’s suggestions.
“This is a good show of public input and openness in the process,” Porn said.
Member of the House redistricting committee state Rep. David Nathan, D-Detroit, said organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus likely will submit plans.
“(The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus) believes that the citizens that have left, particularly the city of Detroit, have moved to other parts of the state, which makes the state more diverse,” Nathan said. “(These submissions) give the committee an example of how the lines could be drawn to demonstrate this diversity.”
But the process of redrawing district lines could be controversial. With Republicans solidly in control of the Legislature, the lines potentially could be drawn in favor of this party.
Porn said officials might take public submissions into consideration but ultimately will want lines redrawn in order to maximize political advantage.
“There will be a political analysis done on any plan that is seriously considered,” he said. “That’s just the way it is.”
Porn said redistricting is a process the public usually ignores.
“Having the public involved and the media attention that will come about from this approach … hopefully it will get the public interested in the redistricting process,” Porn said.
Plans submitted by the public must include a map of the entire state showing the placement of proposed districts and the population of these districts. Submissions must be received by May 23 for the committee to review.
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