Now that Michigan voters have approved Proposal 2 to turn over the drawing of legislative districts to a citizen commission instead of the state legislature, how will it all work? Katie Fahey, the founder of Voters Not Politicians, tells WSJM News this new commission will be four Democrats, four Republicans, and five independents.
“Anybody who is a registered Michigan voter will be able to apply,” Fahey said. “If someone is in a partisan political office or if they’re a registered lobbyist or closely related, then they will be excluded from serving on the commission, although they can still participate in the process by attending an open meeting.”
Fahey says the Michigan Secretary of State will send out 10,000 applications to voters randomly in January of 2020. Those who want to seek an application can also do so. The commission will be selected by September 1, 2020.
“The Secretary of State’s office will do a random lottery in order to choose folks,” Fahey said. “There will be a couple of — the majority and minority party leaders will be able to also remove a couple people, but beyond that, it should be a lottery that’s weighted so that the people on this commission match how the people of the state look.”
The state’s legislative districts, for both state offices and federal offices, will be redrawn following the next census. Fahey says the redistricting commission should have the final map by November 1, 2021.
“They’ll actually be required to hold at least ten public hearings across the state before they even start drawing the map,” Fahey said.
Fahey says the commission will be made up of people from all areas of the state. Ten years later, when the districts need to be drawn again, a new commission will be formed. She expects this new process to drastically change the look of Michigan’s districts, telling us they’re currently among the most gerrymandered in the country.
