FAIR Maps: Redistricting Commission’s Delays Threaten Public’s Right to Timely Fair Maps
Last Minute Change in Tactics Throws Public for a Loop
LANSING, MI, August 19, 2021 – FAIR Maps Michigan today asked members of Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to prioritize fairness and transparency in their work after the Commission today abandoned its plan to begin drafting maps for new state Senate Districts and ditched a previously approved 4-page plan for a new 30-page plan dropped on unsuspecting Michiganders at the last minute.
“Today’s meeting was a painful reminder of how unprepared this commission is to meet their constitutionally mandated deadline,” said Tony Daunt, Executive Director of FAIR Maps. “The Commission is already way behind where they should be, and instead of beginning the map drafting that they led everyone to believe would occur today, they spent much of their meeting debating an entirely new approach that was dropped in their lap at the 11th hour.
“Voters trusted this Commission to deliver fair Congressional and legislative maps in plenty of time for them to review and approve. Today’s meeting further damages their trust in that process, and flies in the face of the promise of a clear and transparent process.”
The complicated new map-drawing process sprung on the public at the last minute today threatens to sow confusion and jeopardize the Commission’s ability to deliver fair maps by deadlines prescribed by law.
FAIR Maps participates in every aspect of Michigan’s redistricting process to achieve FAIR – Fair and Independent Redistricting – plans that appropriately reflect the diversity of Michigan’s population and the communities where they live.
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