Shameful
Redistricting Commission Brazenly Ignores AG Opinion and Votes to Hide Truth about Efforts to Disenfranchise Minority Communities
LANSING, MI, December 2, 2021 – FAIR Maps Executive Director Tony Daunt today demanded the state’s redistricting commission come clean about efforts to minimize the voting power of minority communities and to violate the Voting Rights Act.
The Commission voted today to continue hiding public memos and transcripts from public review, in gross violation of the state’s constitution.
A shameful majority of commissioners – Democrats Juanita Curry, Brittni Kellom, M.C. Rothhorn, and Dustin Witjes, Independents Janice Vallette and Richard Weiss, and Republican Cynthia Orton – voted to continue violating constitutional transparency requirements related to their handling of minority communities and the federal Voting Rights Act. Residents of Detroit and other communities have blasted the Commission for its decision to disenfranchise minority communities to gerrymander the maps.
“The Redistricting Commission is hiding evidence from the public, because it would reveal the lengths they’ve gone to disenfranchise minority voters,” said Daunt. “The Commission illegally held a closed-door session, in direct violation of the state’s constitution, to discuss their efforts to disenfranchise African-American and other minority communities and to violate the Voting Rights Act.
“The public has a right to know – today – exactly what the commission is hiding. That’s not rhetoric – it’s the opinion of both the Democratic Attorney General and the state’s Constitution.”
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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