Three federal judges have appointed two special masters to help redraw 13 Detroit State House and Senate districts that were deemed illegally influenced by race.
The panel of judges ruled last month that the districts must be redrawn, and the parties in the lawsuit had asked the panel to appoint special masters.
According to the ruling, they will appoint Dr. Michael Barber and Dr. Bernard Grofman as special masters.
Barber, who is a political science professor at Brigham Young University and the director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, will "prepare and recommend to this court an alternative remedial redistricting plan that cures the constitutional violations."
Grofman is a political science professor and the Jack W. Peltason Endowed Chair of Democracy Studies at the University of California, Irvine, and the former director of the UCI Center for the Study of Democracy. His role, according to the court, will be "to evaluate the Commission’s remedial plan and to advise the court as to whether, in his opinion, that plan lawfully remedies the constitutional violations."
In a hearing last week, the Michigan Secretary of State said that the new maps would have to be finished and implemented by April 23, 2024, so the court ruled it would appoint the special masters in the event the Michigan Independent Redistricting Commission could not provide an acceptable map.
The court also set out the dates the maps must be completed by, so that public comment can be heard.
According to the ruling, the maps must be submitted to the court and made available on the commission's website no later than Feb. 2, 2024.
Then, the commission will have to provide public comment on the proposed plan up until Feb. 23, and must hold at least one public hearing in Detroit to solicit community input.
The commission must adopt and submit the final remedial House plan no later than March 1, and then objections have to be filed by March 8 and March 15 respectively.
The special master will then submit a report by March 15, and the parties may file briefs commenting on the special master's report no later than March 20.
Finally, the court said it will approve a remedial House district plan no later than March 29.
As for the Senate districts, the court said the parties must submit a proposed timeline for preparing those maps by April 12.
In December, the panel ruled that the seven House districts and six Senate districts – all of which are held by Democrats – has a Black voting age population of only 35%-45%. One is 19%, according to the panel, compared to 80% of Detroit residents who are Black.
Experts had repeatedly told a state redistricting commission in 2021 that certain percentages were necessary to comply with federal law. The panel, however, disagreed.
The lawsuit was filed by a group of Black residents who argued that the map diluted their voting power.
