1. Go to NextVote.

2. Select the maps you want to view. In the upper right corner, click, so MICRC Maps is underlined. One can view Congressional, State Senate, and State House maps. Click on Congressional. The top row entitled Enacted is in a different blue than the rest of the chart is the current numbers. The existing district breakdown is 5 blue (Democratic-leaning) and 9 red (Republican-leaning). Scrolling down, one sees proposed maps based on 2016 and 2020 election numbers and how roughly the districts would break out today. For example, in the sample map, Eid CD v2A Congressional, the districts for the entire state would be 6 blue and 7 red (2016) and 7 blue and 6 red (2020). These are more balanced than the current gerrymandered maps of 5 blue and 9 red. 

4. After clicking on a specific map, one can see demographic information and lines drawn for that map. To get more specific information such as population and evaluation, click on the map name in the upper left corner. For example, click on Eid CD v2A in the upper left corner. This will take one to districtr.org/plan/56156https://www.michigan-mapping.org/submission/p2407.

5. To comment, go back to: nextvote.us/PortalY.aspx?mapsection=congressional 

9. More from Washtenaw County Dems on maps that need comments and easy comment instructions. Note: The correct link for the second map is michigan.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/comments/plan/227/23     

The Legitimate: To run for the governorship, even an incumbent like Gretchen Whitmer, you must garner 15,000-30,000 signatures. This is according to the Michigan Department of State Bureau of Elections.  

The Misguided: The Secure Mi Vote Initiative being circulated as a petition sounds good, but in reality it makes it more difficult to vote. It touts it’s a Voter ID requirement which eliminates the current voter ID option, allowing people without ID to sign a statement of identity under penalty of perjury. As there is virtually no fraud by impersonation, requiring ID is unnecessary and unfairly impacts minorities who are more likely to lack governmental ID. It also would eliminate sending unsolicited absentee ballot applications to voters, which further complicates the voting process. In addition, it would require both a driver’s license number and the last four digits of the voter’s social security number, a further obstacle to having the vote count. Finally, at a time when legislators accept all kinds of dark money, it forbids municipalities from accepting outside funds to help run the election. Overall, every item on the Secure MI Vote initiative complicates the voting process.

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The Michigan Independent Citizen’s Redistricting Commission is meeting daily this week as they work to finalize their drafts of the state House, state Senate, and Congressional maps. The Commission is tasked with drawing fair maps that undo political gerrymandering. Their maps need significant adjustments across the state to be considered fair. If adopted, these plans would create a Republican-controlled legislature for the next decade. Public comment encouraging partisan fairness remains vital. Attend a meeting near you and speak via zoom at any of them. Subscribe to Stay Updated on Upcoming Commission Meetings and register to give public comment. Here are the Meeting Notices and Materials.

The MICRC’s partisan fairness review showed:

Vote Early Day, observed on October 23 this year, is a movement of nonprofits, businesses, election administrators, and creatives working to ensure all Americans know their options to vote early. It was founded by MTV as a new civic holiday focused on helping voters know how, where, and when they can vote early. Launched in the midst of a global pandemic in 2020 over 101,000,000 Americans voted early using options including in person, vote-by-mail, and drop-off boxes. Over 3,000,000 voters cast their ballots on Vote Early Day alone. Early voting for the November 2 election in Michigan has started. Cast your ballot in person at your city clerk's office.

Visit the PEG website to view the comprehensive listing of Upcoming Events!

More on the AFL-CIO maps                                                                                ‘The non-partisan Michigan AFL-CIO Fair Maps project has done a lot of work to create maps that provide the fairest representation. 

From their website: https://miaflcio.org/fairmaps “The districts we drew in our maps comply with the letter and spirit of the Voting Rights Act, comply with equal population requirements, are contiguous, reflect Michigan’s diverse population and communities of interest, do not provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party, do not favor or disfavor any incumbent elected officials or candidates, reflect county, city and township boundaries, and are compact.”’ Read more and See their maps.

BE SURE TO COMMENT ON THE AFL-CIO MAPS in this document from Wave Michigan/Next Steps. Find maps here  Click on a map to comment.

In case you’re a victim of a Hate Crime . . .                                 

One of Dana Nessel’s first acts as Michigan’s Attorney General was to create a Hate Crime Unit within the criminal division of her department. In speaking about the Unit she established in March, 2019, Nessel clarified that hate itself is not a crime. It becomes the domain of the Hate Crime Unit “when a criminal offense is committed against a person or property and it is motivated by an offender’s bias against a particular group.” Given the explosion of hate crimes since the beginning of the Trump Administration, the Hate Crimes Unit seems particularly relevant to the many ongoing attacks against entire groups of people. If you feel that you or your community is the victim of such an attack, please call the Department of Attorney General at (313) 456-0180.

More states are leaving Columbus Day behind and venturing into Indigenous Peoples' Day, which honors the millions of Native or Indigenous people who lived in the Americas for centuries prior to Columbus' disastrous arrival. Michigan is one of the states who have either made an official legal holiday or proclamation out of this somber observance.

A special thanks to our Newsletter contributors: Bernie Banet, Ellen Halter, Mieko Preston, Leslie McGraw, Leslie Kamil, Lisa Kamil, Richard Gaeth, Susie Ayer, Bette Cotzin, and Chuck Newman for their contributions and help preparing our newsletters. Write us at equalityingovinfo@gmail.com if you would like help create our weekly newsletter OR if you would like to be a guest contributor! It’s fun and no ongoing commitment is required.