Michigan residents who want to give their input on the new congressional districts can do so now through a public comment portal.
It's the newest way people can participate in the Michigan Independent Redistricting Committee's work to redraw Michigan's congressional lines ahead of the 2022 election.
The state partnered with the MGGG Redistricting Lab, which is a group at Tufts University, which gives people several options to participate.
They can submit written public comment, draw and submit community of interest maps, draw and submit complete or partial district maps, upload or link to a map and comment on other maps.
“Robust public input is vital to the MICRC’s work of drawing fair districts representative of all Michiganders”, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a release. "The MICRC is making it easy for anyone in Michigan to be a part of history and participate in this citizen-led redistricting effort.”
This is the first time an independent committee will draw Michigan's districts. Previously, it was drawn by the party in power of the legislature. Now, the 13-member committee, which consists of four Republicans, four Democrats and five Independents, will be in charge.
Benson and the commission have filed a lawsuit seeking a new deadline for finalizing Michigan's new congressional districts.
The suit asks the Michigan Supreme Court to institute a deadline due to a delay in census and reapportionment data from the federal government.
It was announced last month that Michigan would lose one congressional seat and go down to 13 districts.
Benson and the commission are now asking the court to move the deadline for maps to be available to Dec. 11, and the final maps to be approved on Jan. 25, 2022.
Commissioners and the public will be able to see your submissions and comments. The public comment portal can be found at Michigan.gov/MICRC by clicking the “Visit the Public Comment Portal” button.
