Michigan is on the verge of adopting what proponents describe as a “new theory of representation,” in which the state’s redistricting process would be built not on actual communities—counties, cities, townships and villages—but on so-called communities of interest. If the proposal goes forward, these new electoral districts will be based on concepts like identity and affiliation groupings. The result will be a representative system increasingly unresponsive to “we the people,” the one grouping to which all Americans belong and in whose name our constitutions were ratified.
Michigan voters chose in 2018 to amend the state constitution to create the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Its purpose is to rid the decennial redistricting process of the purported abuses of gerrymandering, partisanship and legislative self-dealing. The commission has 13 members—four Democrats, four Republicans, and five independents—who were randomly selected from an applicant pool of registered voters.
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