- The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission randomly selected three new members on Wednesday
- This came after the commission was found by a panel of judges to have improperly factored race into the drawing of electoral boundaries for 13 Metro Detroit area districts
- A federal court ordered a decision to be made about how these districts will be redrawn by Friday
(Transcript from full broadcast segment)
On Wednesday, The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission randomly selected three new members, and following controversy, there are some unknowns about the future of elections in the state.
Three vacancies in the commission were filled by Elaine Andrade (D), Donna Callaghan (D), and Marcus Muldoon (R).
They were randomly selected to join the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission after the resignation of three members in December, which came after the commission was found by a panel of judges to have improperly factored race into the drawing of electoral boundaries for 13 Metro Detroit area districts.
The judges ordered that the lines must be redrawn before any elections can take place.
Kyle Melinn is the Editor of the Michigan Information Research Service. He explained that a federal court ordered a decision to be made about how these districts will be redrawn by Friday. The courts have to make these redrawing decisions quickly because special elections are coming up.
Melinn explained the predicament, "How will this impact the special elections, are the special elections going to continue, are they on hold till we got all of these districts straightened out? If these districts don't have special elections, that means the house is stuck at 54/54 partisan split indefinitely, presumably until November."
We've told you about that 54/54 split in the past, but Melinn added that the districts that have to be redrawn could be involved in where those special elections need to take place.
He also told me it's possible the judges could stop the special elections from happening altogether.
Melinn told me that with many unknowns still in the air, Friday will serve as guidance to see how judges will determine the future of electoral boundaries.
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