Federal judges approve redraw of Detroit-area state House seats ahead of 2024 election

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — New boundaries for Detroit-area seats in the Legislature were approved Wednesday by a three-judge panel that had previously ordered them redrawn after finding the old map was illegally influenced by race.

The newly approved state House map will be in place for a November election in which the balance of power in the chamber will be at stake. None of the Detroit-area House Democratic incumbents share a district under the new map, avoiding potential primary conflicts.

The three-judge federal appeals court panel had ordered in December that the seven state House districts have their boundaries redrawn for the 2024 election after it was determined that race influenced how they were drawn in 2021. Although nearly 80% of Detroit residents are Black, the panel said that the Black voting age population in the 13 Detroit-area districts mostly ranges from 35% to 45%, with one being as low as 19%.

A redistricting commission responsible for redrawing the state’s legislative and congressional maps in 2021 was tasked with drafting a new state House map in the first months of the year before a public hearing process began to gather feedback. The commission submitted the new map in early March, and the three-judge panel had until March 29 to approve it.

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