REDISTRICTING IN MICHIGAN Should Politicians Choose Their Voters? League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 1 What is Redistricting? Following every census, the distribution of Congressional seats across the nation is subject to change based on population movement.
States are tasked with drawing lines for U.S. Congressional and state (House & Senate) districts. Every state determines its own process. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 2 How Are Maps Drawn? League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund
01/26/2020 3 FEDERAL LAWS FOR DRAWING THE MAPS -The U.S. Constitution requires that the seats for the U.S. House of Representatives be apportioned to states according to the population count in the federal Census, conducted every 10 years. (Article 1, Section 2) -In the 1964 case of Reynolds v. Sims, the United States Supreme Court determined that the general basis of apportionment should be "one person, one vote." This rule means that, generally, electoral districts must be equal in population according to the most recent census so that each person's vote is equally weighted. -Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act blocks district lines that deny minority voters an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their
choice. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 4 STATE LAWS For Drawing District Maps 1963 MI Constitution: Independent Commission Public Act 463 of 1996 an act to establish guidelines for the Michigan Legislature and Governor to draw the maps for the MI Senate and MI House of Representatives and to allow the MI Supreme Court to review the maps under certain
circumstances. Public Act 221of 1999 - an act to stipulate that the Michigan Legislature and Governor draw the voting maps for Congress. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 5 Oversight in Michigan Over the Process of Drawing the Maps Governor can veto the plans for MI Congressional or Legislative
districts. State Supreme Court can review the maps. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 6 WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? Partisan politicians manipulate elections to keep themselves and their party in power. League of Women Voters of MI
Education Fund 01/26/2020 7 Elbridge Gerry Massachusetts Governor, 1810-11 Signed into law a map for Senate redistricting. Because the district looked like a salamander the name was coined Gerrymandering
Redrawing lines to get a particular result League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 8 Gerrymandering (drawing the lines to suit special interest) Graph by Stephen Nass, Posted by: WashingtonPost.com League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 9
Michigan Congressional Districts League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 10 Congressional Districts in Detroit Metro Area League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 11 Current 14th District
League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 12 Western Michigan League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 13 U.S. House of Representatives Votes and Seats Won in 2016 5.00%
5; 35.71% 47.00% 48.00% 9; 64.29% League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 14 1992 and 2012 Congressional Distribution in Texas and Michigan 1992 % Total Votes for Congress
Seats Won R 49% D 2012 R D 49% % Total Votes for Congress
46% 51% Seats Won 9 (64%) 5 (36%) 9 (30%) 21 (70%) When Maps Controlled by Democrats in Texas When Maps Controlled by Republicans in Michigan League of Women Voters of MI
Education Fund 01/26/2020 15 Michigan Senate 16 League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 17 League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020
18 League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 19 League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 20 MI House of Representatives Votes and Seats Won in 2016 63;
57.27% League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 47; 42.73% 01/26/2020 21 WHAT ARE THE RESULTS? The vast majority of districts arent competitive. This impacts policies as well as elections.
The party in power meets behind closed doors and draws voting maps that directly benefit itself. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 22 Thats putting the fox in charge of the henhouse its a conflict of interest! League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 23
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? Turned U.S. from Blue to Red REDMAP Redistricting Majority Project headed by Republicans in early 2010 to gain control in Democratically controlled legislatures. (PA, OH, MI, NC, VA, WI, FL) Targeted races and won states. Michigan was one. Republicans won House and therefore controlled maps. Maps drawn by Jeff Timmer and Bob LaBrant Ratfu**ked, The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to
Steal Americas Democracy David Daley League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 24 WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? Change the rules so that the process is fair, transparent and impartial. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 25 Range of Policy Options
Legislature: A legislative committee creates a redistricting plan and submits it, in the form of a bill, to the full legislature. Upon final legislative approval, the redistricting plan is subject to gubernatorial veto. Advisory: Advisory commission drafts a plan, but it is subject to legislative approval. Backup: Backup commission used when needed. Politician: Designated elected officials serve as members of the commission. Legislature does not approve the maps.
Independent Commission: Citizens draw maps with no approval from legislature required. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 26 Most states, 26, put the power solely in the hands of the state legislature Alabama Delaware Florida Georgia Indiana Kansas
Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina North Dakota Oregon South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Utah West Virginia Wisconsin
Wyoming League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 27 5 States Have Advisory Commissions/ 5 Backup Commissions/1 Other Maine New York (begins in 2020) Rhode Island Vermont Virginia
Connecticut Illinois Mississippi Oklahoma Texas Iowa (Non-partisan Governmental Agency) League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 28 7 States Have A Politician Commission/ 6 States Have An Independent Commission Arkansas politician Colorado politician Hawaii politician
Missouri politician New Jersey politician Ohio politician Pennsylvania politician Alaska - independent Arizona - independent California - independent Idaho - independent Montana - independent Washington independent South Dakota had on ballot in 2016 and it failed 57-43%; Washington changed deadline to 11/15 instead of 1/1. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 29 Many Alternatives
California14 members, 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, 4 Neither; 34 public hearings, 22,000 written comments. Arizona 5 members: 4 appointed by House and Senate Majority and Minority Leaders. 5th member chosen by the other four commissioners. 5th member must be from a political party different from the other members' parties. Florida adopted standards contiguous, compact, not benefit one political party over another. Ohio 7 member bipartisan commission of elected officials: Governor, State Auditor, Secretary of State, Majority and Minority Leaders of House and Senate. Adoption of plan
requires at least 4 votes, 2 of which must come from each major party. No legislative approval required. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 30 Results of the California Independent Process Increased Higher Less voter confidence voter turnout partisan bias
Greater accountability Increase in competitive seats League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 31 U.S. Supreme Court Action and its impact on independent commissions: On June 29, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that a voter-approved independent redistricting commission in Arizona is
constitutional. April 4, 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the current practice of drawing district lines based on the total number of people who live in the district is constitutional. Texas wanted to count the number of voters not people. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 32 Court Cases Continued A new case, Whitford v Gill, is challenging the 2011, 99-seat Wisconsin
Assembly map as an unconstitutional gerrymander. On November 21, 2016, U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in Wisconsin case that the maps violated the 1st amendment and Equal Protection. Uses efficiency gap as evidence of gerrymandering. Wisconsin has appealed to U.S. Supreme Court which heard the case in October 2017 and will rule in 2018. The efficiency gap is a mathematical measure of the amount of gerrymandering that has taken place. North Carolina v Covington: 31 North Carolina residents sued the state contending that Republican lawmakers had packed African-American voters into nine Senate districts and 19 House districts in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court ordered new maps and elections in 2017. The case was appealed. In May 2017, U.S. Supreme Court ruled racial gerrymandering had occurred in North Carolina. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund
01/26/2020 33 Court Cases Continued On December 22, 2017, LWVMI and 11 other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against SOS Ruth Johnson in federal court. It lays out the problem with partisan gerrymandering in Michigan: Michigans current electoral maps were drawn in a secretive partisan process with little discussion or debate before being quickly passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor. Objective analysis demonstrates that the current, gerrymandered Michigan districting plans systematically crack and pack Democratic voters.
The lawsuit asks the federal court to declare the current districts to be unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders and to ensure that the districts are redrawn in a fair fashion. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 34 To change the way maps are drawn the Michigan Constitution would have to be amended: 1. 2. Legislators can introduce legislation to amend the MI Constitution. It has to be
passed by 2/3rds of the MI House and Senate and then voted on by the people. OR MI citizens can use an initiative petition to put a constitutional change on the ballot. About 317,000 valid signatures must be collected within 180 days. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 35 Current Petition to Reform Redistricting February 2017: Voters Not Politicians (VNP) Filed Ballot Question Committee with Secretary of State as
required by Michigan Campaign Finance Law June 24, 2017: VNP filed ballot proposal with Board of State Canvassers August 20, 2017: Board of State Canvassers approved petition as to form; VNP began collecting signatures. December 20, 2017: VNP turned in over 400,000 signatures and is awaiting review by the Secretary of State. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020
36 Voters Not Politicians (VNP) Ballot Proposal An Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) will be in charge of the redistricting process. The Commission will be made up of 4 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 5 Independents with representation from across the state. Politicians, consultants and lobbyists will be banned from serving on the Commission. The ICRC is required to conduct its business in public hearings that are open to input from across the state. All proposed maps and the methodology/data to create them must be submitted as public reports. Everything down to the variables used by the computers used to draw the maps will be available to the public.
The ICRC is required to follow a prioritized set of criteria and standards when drawing the maps. A minimum of 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans, and 2 Independents on the Commission must approve the final maps. This prevents one political party from controlling the process. For more information go to www.votersnotpoliticians.com League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 37 League of Women Voters of MI Supports an Independent Redistricting Commission and the VNP proposal.
Believes a successful ballot proposal campaign must be supported by a coalition of organizations that reflects the diversity of our state. LWV will continue to try to form such a coalition. LWV will continue to educate voters about the need for redistricting reform in Michigan. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020 38 IN SUMMARY
Partisan politicians manipulate elections to keep themselves and their party in power. Thats putting the fox in charge of the henhouse its a conflict of interest. The process of drawing election maps should be transparent, impartial and fair. When we vote, we want our elections to be fair, our votes to count and our voices to be heard. League of Women Voters of MI Education Fund 01/26/2020
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