From today’s The Detroit News:
The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday denied a request by the Detroit legislative caucus to redraw Michigan’s new voting maps, finding the caucus didn’t prove the decrease in majority-minority districts violated federal protections for minority voters.
The 4-3 decision noted that expert analysis showed White crossover voting made it possible to elect a preferred minority candidate even without a majority-minority district.
“This evidence of White crossover voting — unrebutted by plaintiffs’ expert — reinforces our conclusion that plaintiffs have not made the threshold showing of White bloc voting,” that would trigger the need for majority-minority districts, according to the court’s majority that included Justices Bridget McCormack, Beth Clement, Megan Cavanagh and Elizabeth Welch.
In other redistricting challenges, which historically questioned the work of mapmaking done behind closed doors, further analysis and research might be necessary for the Detroit Caucus to make a proper argument for their case, the order said.
But the high court noted the Detroit Caucus stated several times at oral argument that it had no plans to provide further evidence of its belief that the decrease in majority-minority districts was contrary to the Voting Rights Act.
And, the order said, “the commission’s work has been an open and public process as required” by the Michigan Constitution.
The decision stemmed from a Detroit Caucus challenge of redistricting maps approved by the commission in late December that break up long-held Black majority districts in Detroit to merge them with White Democratic-leaning suburbs.
Read the complete story here.