Michigan: Court Strikes Down Gerrymandered Districts

Roll Call reports:

A three-judge panel on Thursday ruled that Michigan must use new congressional and legislative maps in 2020, potentially setting up a more favorable battlefield for House Democrats, who flipped two seats in the state last fall.

The federal court invalidated portions of the existing maps, drawn by the GOP-controlled legislature in 2011, pointing to an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander that violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment rights of voters.

The League of Women Voters and some Democrats had challenged the state’s 162 legislative and congressional districts, but the final suit only targeted 34 of those districts. Michigan has 14 congressional districts. The plaintiffs challenged the 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th congressional districts.

NEW: A federal court struck Michigan’s congressional, state Senate, & state House districts for unconstitutional Republican gerrymandering, ordering fairer districts for 2020 that could pave the way for Democrats winning full control of state government https://t.co/pj3CDTOOls pic.twitter.com/TBfjL1Twdg

— Stephen Wolf (@PoliticsWolf) April 25, 2019