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Redistricting gives residents opportunity to get involved

While the 2022 election season may seem distant at this point, there is an important upcoming opportunity for citizens to participate in a civic process that will impact the 2022 elections: the upcoming Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission public hearings.

Locally, the League of Women Voters of Marquette County is urging voters to attend Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission public hearings taking place from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Northern Center at Northern Michigan University.

Participants can attend in person or virtually, with the virtual meeting accessible on the Redistricting Michigan Facebook page or Michigan Secretary of State YouTube channel.

We join the league in urging residents to attend, as this the state’s voting district boundaries are redrawn just once each decade. It’s critical to stay informed and give feedback during these hearings, as the commission will use 2020 census data to create new electoral district boundaries that will be used in the 2022 elections. Furthermore, this is the first time the electoral district boundaries will be drawn by an independent commission, as opposed to politicians.

“Redistricting in Michigan has been a very political process that has historically taken place behind closed doors and out of the public eye,” said David Allen, LWVMC Board Director, in a press release. “This new independent process gives everyday Michigan residents the ability to draw the state’s legislative and congressional districts, which is why public participation in these hearings is an important part of the democratic process.”

We believe conducting this process in a fair, transparent nonpartisan manner is critical to preserving our democracy, as the boundaries of districts can have monumental and long-lasting political impacts.

“The redistricting that followed the 2010 census suddenly became less fair as partisan mapmakers used newly available information, technology and software to draw maps that greatly favor one party while respecting the equal population requirement,” Jon Eguia, a professor in Michigan State University’s department of economics who researches partisan advantages in redistricting maps, told Michigan State University’s MSU Today in an Oct. 7 article. “State court rulings, civic activism and constitutional reforms over the past few years have served as a corrective of these excesses in many states, including in Michigan, where the constitutional amendment of 2018 … removed the power to draw district maps from the state assembly, and put it in the hands of an Independent Citizen Commission.”

This commission represents our chance to make the redistricting process fair to all citizens. We hope our residents will take this first-in-a-lifetime chance to participate in the public hearings, stay informed, provide feedback, ask questions and keep the commission accountable for its decisions on electoral district boundaries, as this process can impact each and every citizen.

Voters can find registration links and the procedure for making public comments on the MICRC website.

A full list of public hearings is available on the Secretary of State’s website and RedistrictingMichigan.org

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