Lawsuit Filed Against Michigan State House Map
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, the League of Women Voters of Michigan, a coalition of voting and civil rights advocates and voters filed a lawsuit in the Michigan Supreme Court against the state’s new districts for the Michigan House of Representatives. The lawsuit, filed against the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, argues that the map is unfair from a partisan perspective.
In 2018, Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment that shifted redistricting power away from the Legislature and to the commission. The complaint argues the commission failed to ensure the new district map for the Michigan state House is free of partisan advantage. According to the Michigan Constitution, “districts shall not provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party.” However, the plaintiffs allege that the enacted map — “Hickory” — gives a partisan advantage to the Republican Party that will “tilt State House elections toward Republican control of the Legislature for the next decade.” The complaint also argues the map violates the right to vote, the rights of free speech, association and to petition the government and the Michigan Constitution’s purity of elections clause by discriminating against Democratic voters. The plaintiffs ask the court to block the current map and order the commission to create a new state House plan.