Court Ruling is “Great Victory for Michigan Voters”

By MUUSJN on Monday, April 29th, 2019

Federal Judges Rule 34 Michigan Districts Are UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Must Redraw Gerrymandered Maps by August 1st

On Thursday, April 25th, a panel of three federal judges ruled 3-0 that Michigan must redraw dozens of Congressional and state legislative districts for the 2020 election because they unconstitutionally “advantaged Republicans and disadvantaged Democrats”.  Judy Karandjeff, President of the Michigan League of Women Voters, which filed this lawsuit, declared that this ruling was a “great victory for the voters of Michigan and for our democracy”. The three federal judges reportedly based their decisions on emails and other records produced during the closed door redistricting process that was managed by Republicans and their consultants. One consultant said, “We’ve spent a lot of time providing options to ensure that we have a solid 9-5 (congressional) delegation in 2012 and beyond.” A Republican Congressional aid said that the process “in a glorious way makes it easier to cram ALL the Dem garbage in Wayne, Washtenaw, Oakland and Macomb counties into only four districts”.  For more information, click HERE.  

The ruling requires the GOP legislature to re-draw boundaries for 9 of 14 Congressional seats and 25 of 148 State legislative districts by August 1st.  The number of changed districts, however, would be larger because of the impact on adjacent districts. Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s signature would be required for this plan.  If this new map isn’t agreed upon by August 1st, the federal judges ruled that they would create the map that could affect races for both Congress and the Michigan legislature in the 2020 election.   Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey has said “we will comply with this most recent ruling while we await the outcome of the appeal”. The state Republican party has said it will appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court to “uphold the will of the people”.  Currently, the Supreme Court is ruling on two gerrymandering cases in North Carolina and Maryland. One source indicated that the high Court could rule by the end of June.

The three federal judges’ ruling, which would also step up state Senators elections by two years, would apply to the 2020 election. After that, the Voters Not Politicians ballot proposal, approved by 61 percent of Michigan Voters, would be implemented to reduce gerrymandering in the 2022 election. 

We live in interesting — and more hopeful — times.

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