Michigan’s Redistricting Commission is On the Move

By Doug Marrin

Vicki Paulissen from the League of Women Voters was in attendance at the Dexter Forum on March 20, 2021, and reported on the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC).

In 2018, Michigan voters passed Proposal 2, an initiative for citizens and not legislators to determine political districts. The Commission comprises 13 randomly selected Michigan residents that include four Democrats, four Republicans, and five Independents. The MICRC is responsible for redistricting the U.S. Congressional, Michigan House, and Michigan Senate districts.

Since its formation last fall, Paulissen explained, “the Commission’s work thus far has been to educate themselves. They’ve been hiring lawyers and advisors and working with software companies so that they have a process in place that they can start drawing these lines.”

Paulissen described the priorities the MICRC is tasked with following. “The first order of priority is that each district must have an equal population,” she told the Forum. “The second priority is that the districts must be geographically contiguous.”

The third priority was the purpose of her visit to the Forum—Communities of Interest (COI) which Paulissen described as “districts drawn to reflect the state’s diverse population.”

“It's a group of people who have similar interests,” Paulissen elaborated. “It could be affected by legislation, or who may want to approach legislation with their voices. A Community of Interest can be very small or can be very large. It can make up an entire district or just be a small part of it. The goal is to keep the community together so that their voices can be heard by the legislature.”

The MICRC is conducting a series of public hearings in which groups who want to be identified as a Community of Interest can present their case. Paulissen explained The League of Women Voters is making itself available to help groups who wish to become a COI navigate the process.

Paulissen told the Forum that common bonds to create a COI could be economical, ethnic, or cultural. Examples she gave were farmers, tribal nations, and Arab Americans. Other citizens may have a shared interest defined by a natural resource, such as the people in Midland and Saginaw area, with the common interest of how the rivers are managed. What could not be used for a COI is a shared relationship with a political party.

The League of Women Voters is working with a group from Battle Creek who would like to be a COI associated with Kalamazoo and the I-94 corridor. Currently, Battle Creek is in the same congressional district as Grand Rapids but identifies and engages with Kalamazoo in socio-economic terms.

Closer to home, Paulissen described how Loch Alpine has about 400 homes over its 600 acres. “It is a contiguous landmass of similar economic status,” she says. “They have a shared interest in the legislature that would affect water issues because they have their own sanitary authority. They have two lakes and a river going through their neighborhood. They might want to approach the Commission and say ‘We are a Community of Interest.’”

Currently, Loch Alpine straddles Scio and Webster townships. It would make sense for them to be in the same district.

Paulissen’s message is that the process is underway, and now is the time to speak up.

To learn more, go to https://www.michigan.gov/micrc