On Monday, The Michigan Supreme Court ruled the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) must conduct all its business at open meetings and that is should have published seven of 10 legal memos that constituted supporting materials for map drawing under the Michigan Constitution. The Voting Right Act and how it pertains to mostly Black districts was discussed at the closed session.
At an Oct. 27, 2021 closed session MICRC members discussed two memos titled “Voting Rights Act” and “The History of Discrimination in the State of Michigan and Its Influence on Voting.”
Michigan residents across the state and various Michigan media outlets questioned whether MICRC members violated the state Constitution by keeping legal memos private and by meeting in closed session.
At a MICRC meeting, seven commission members voted against releasing the memos. Five voted to release the memos.
Steve Lett, who voted to release the memos, voted against releasing the recording of the closed session after the commission voted not the release the memos. He said he believed information regarding the memos would be given when the recording was released.
The other commissioners voted the same way about releasing the recording of the closed session as they did about the memos.
As a result, a lawsuit was filed by The Detroit News, Bridge Michigan, the Detroit Free Press and the Michigan Press Association in December 2021.
MICRC has complied with the court’s ruling and has posted seven documents the court said must be made public.
During the closed-door meeting, the commission’s attorneys said reducing the percentage of Black voters in districts that have been mostly Black would be in compliance with the Voting Rights Act.
Bruce Adelson, the commission’s voting rights attorney, was referring to the commission’s work to reverse packing—concentrating the opposing party’s voting power in one district to reduce their voting power in other districts
Flint was mentioned specifically several times during the meeting.
To read the recently published memos, as well as hear the audio recording of the closed session, click here: https://www.michigan.gov/micrc/0,10083,7-418-97801-574322–,00.html
The public can watch the virtual news conference live in which Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is to discuss the Michigan Supreme Court ruling by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/RedistrictingMI/ A recording also will be uploaded after the event to the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission YouTube channel.
The commission is still scheduled to vote on its final redistricting maps during the last week of December.
