Redistricting

Michigan Redistricting Project

In November 2018, the citizens of Michigan passed Proposal 2, which amended the Michigan Constitution to place congressional and state legislative redistricting in the hands of a new Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC)...

News

CLOSUP categorizes ‘a tsunami’ of public input to help redraw Michigan districts

Jul 10, 2024

Students working with the University of Michigan’s Center for Local, State and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) have created a system to help a Michigan commission collect and analyze public comments about drawing Michigan’s congressional and state legislative...

Redistricting Panel: Approved, and now voted on

In the Media

Early Public Comment Roundup Gives ICRC A Glimpse At Road Ahead

May 20, 2024 Gongwer

Members of the public have been providing public comments since the inception of the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission Track, but on Monday, commissioners got a peek at what those commenters were saying about the maps created between...

In the Media

New House map combats racial gerrymandering in Michigan Legislature

Apr 9, 2024 The Michigan Daily

Three federal judges approved new Michigan House of Representatives voting districts on March 27. The map’s passing followed a lawsuit, Agee v. Benson, filed March 23, 2022, that alleged illegal racial gerrymandering in 13 Detroit-area House and...

In the Media

'It's messy': The ups and downs of Michigan's inaugural citizens redistricting commission

Feb 1, 2024 The Detroit News

For six days in November, 88-year-old Susan Smith sat on a polished wooden bench in a windowless federal courtroom in Kalamazoo as judges heard hours of testimony on the future of Michigan’s legislative maps. The testimony, as is the case with...

In the Media

A retrospect on the new redistricting process for Michigan voters

Dec 7, 2022 The Michigan Daily

On Nov. 30th, the Ford School of Public Policy held an event to discuss Michigan’s new citizen-led redistricting process and its impacts on the midterm election, the first election since new lines were drawn in December 2021. The meeting was...

In the Media

CLOSUP redistricting event featured in Detroit Free Press

Dec 5, 2022 Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press: "'I think Michigan is going to play a very important poster child role moving forward,' said Moon Duchin, a mathematician at Tufts University who helped Michigan's commission review mapping input during the redistricting...

CLOSUP redistricting event featured in Detroit Free Press

News

An assessment of Michigan's redistricting process

Dec 5, 2022

In the aftermath of the first election that used newly-drawn districts in Michigan, created by an independent citizen’s commission, the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy and the Program in Practical Policy Engagement hosted a Policy Talk to...

An assessment of Michigan's redistricting process

In the Media

Redistricting experts weigh in on results of first general election under new maps

Dec 1, 2022 Detroit Free Press

Results from the first general election held under new maps drawn by Michigan's independent redistricting commission seemed to demonstrate that the group achieved its aim of drawing fair maps while underscoring Black Detroiters' concerns that they...

News

The impact of Michigan’s redistricting efforts on the 2022 midterms

Nov 23, 2022

The results of the 2022 elections in Michigan were marked by a narrow Democratic sweep of all the major statewide offices and both houses of the state legislature. The election is also notable for its use of new districts that were drawn for the...

Ford school faculty available to weigh in on 2024 elections

News

Michigan State-Michigan collaboration to measure Partisan Advantage in redistricting

Oct 27, 2022

The effect of redistricting will be a major topic as the results of the 2022 elections are analyzed in the weeks and months ahead. In some states, districts were drawn by partisan legislatures; in others those maps were challenged in the courts with...

Michigan State-Michigan collaboration to measure Partisan Advantage in redistricting

Publication

Local government officials offer mixed reviews to Michigan's new approach to redistricting

Oct 26, 2022

Local officials in Michigan have rendered a mixed verdict on the state's new constitutionally mandated approach to redrawing electoral maps with the goal of reducing gerrymandering and promoting fairer elections. Only 24% of local officials are...

U-M survey finds early lack of awareness among local leaders with state’s new approach to redraw legislative districts

MPPS in the news

Mixed Reviews From Local Leaders For Redistricting Commission

Oct 26, 2022 Gongwer.com

Support among local leaders for the concept of an independent redistricting commission has waned over time, according to a study published by the University of Michigan's Center for Local State and Urban...

CLOSUP Updates

New MPPS Policy Brief: Local government officials give mixed reviews to Michigan’s new approach to redistricting

Oct 26, 2022

A new policy brief presents the opinions of Michigan local government leaders on Michigan’s new approach to electoral redistricting and the performance of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC). These findings are based...

A blue map of Michigan layered over a blue neighborhood map

In the Media

MSU creates tool to measure election fairness district-wide

Jun 15, 2022 The State News

Michigan State University recently launched the Partisan Advantage Tracker, a user-friendly tool that helps the public assess election fairness and track election outcomes. MSU Professor of Economics and Political Science Jon X. Eguia collaborated...

CLOSUP Updates

Partisan Advantage Tracker

May 16, 2022

The IPPSR Partisan Advantage Tracker is a tool to evaluate congressional district maps drawn for the U.S. House of Representatives. The Tracker measures how much these maps favor one political party over another, in each state, and nationwide. Visit...

Map of United States showing partisan fairness metrics for redistricting

In the Media

Ford School event reflects on Michigan redistricting process

Jan 21, 2022 Daily Advent

The Ford School of Public Policy held a virtual discussion Wednesday evening reflecting on Michigan’s citizen-led redistricting process and discussed how lessons from that process could be applied to the rest of the United States. This event was...

In the Media

Redistricting Commission splits Hillsdale County into two state Senate districts in new political map

Jan 20, 2022 The Hillsdale Collegian

Hillsdale County will be split into two different state Senate districts under a plan approved by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission on Dec. 28. On the new map, Hillsdale and Jonesville are in district 16 and Allen and...

In the Media

Ford School event reflects on Michigan redistricting process

Jan 20, 2022 The Michigan Daily

CLOSUP Updates

Webinar: Michigan redistricting: A model for the nation? Evaluating the state's new maps and process

Jan 19, 2022 Event details

Date & Time Jan 19, 2022, 7:00-8:30 pm EST Michigan has brand new electoral maps designed through an innovative new process, and the state's politics will never be the same. This webinar will analyze and evaluate Michigan’s new redistricting...

In the Media

U-M expert on redistricting: The road back and ahead

Nov 16, 2021 Michigan News, University of Michigan

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is nearing the end of its work to draft new maps in an effort to end partisan gerrymandering. The mission was straightforward—use an independent commission instead of the state legislature...

News

U-M expert on redistricting: The road back and ahead

Nov 16, 2021

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) is nearing the end of its work to draft new maps in an effort to end partisan gerrymandering. The mission was straightforward—use an independent commission instead of the state...

The Next Big Thing: Redistricting In Michigan And The Role Of Communities Of Interest

In the Media

Study questions whether Michigan's newly proposed political maps will adequately represent Black voters

Oct 19, 2021 WKAR

Will maps newly proposed political maps adequately represent Black...

In the Media

Proposed draft maps for Holland-area House districts offer glimpse at potential 2022 lines

Sep 29, 2021 Holland Sentinel

Proposed State House district lines in Ottawa and Allegan counties would provide several changes from the current alignment, if the commission tasked with drawing the lines adopts a similar setup when proposed maps are voted on in...

In the Media

Michigan’s draft congressional maps reveal major shifts in representation

Sep 27, 2021 The Oakland Press

Michiganders are getting their first look at what congressional districts may look like for the next 10 years after several draft maps revealed big changes for residents and major shifts in...

In the Media

Michigan’s draft congressional maps reveal major shifts in representation

Sep 27, 2021 Macomb Daily

Michiganders are getting their first look at what congressional districts may look like for the next 10 years after several draft maps revealed big changes for residents and major shifts in...

MPPS in the news

U-M expert: Challenges abound as leaders assemble for Mackinac Policy Conference

Sep 20, 2021 Michigan News, University of Michigan

Many of Michigan’s business, political and academic movers and shakers are gathering this week for the annual Mackinac Policy Conference after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of last year’s...

In the Media

Five things for state leaders to consider at Mackinac Policy Conference

Sep 20, 2021 WWJ Newsradio 950

Pattie Vitale of WWJ Newsradio 950 interviews Tom Ivacko about the state's most pressing policy...

In the Media

Letter: Redistricting commission's constitutional mandate comes first

Jul 13, 2021 Detroit News

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In the Media

Former justice says redistricting committee should ignore UM advice

Jul 6, 2021 KPVI News 6

Former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman urged Michigan's independent redistricting committee to use geographical boundaries instead of racial, ethnic, or religious groups to determine the state's new voting...