Lansing (AP) 鈥� Federal judges gave final approval to a new map of Michigan state Legislature boundaries, concluding a case in which the court previously found that several Detroit-area districts' maps were .
In December, the court ordered a redistricting commission responsible for redrawing the state鈥檚 legislative and congressional maps in 2021 to redraw 13 state districts. In a Friday opinion, the panel of three judges approved a redrawn map of the Senate seats bringing the proceedings to a close.
The court approved , which had to be finalized before the 2024 election. The new Senate seats will not bear weight until the chamber is up for election in 2026.
The original lawsuit filed by Black residents argued that the map diluted their voting power. Although nearly 80% of Detroit residents are Black, the panel said the population of Black voting-age residents in the old districts was significantly lower, ranging from 35% to 45% with one as low as 19%.
Democrats currently hold a slim majority in both chambers after flipping them in 2022. The party鈥檚 success was , in part, to legislative maps that were redrawn in 2021 by the state鈥檚 Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.
According to the five-page opinion, the residents do not object to the new map. The judges said the final Senate map was drawn 鈥渞ace-blind.鈥�
鈥淭he Secretary of State may proceed to implement the Commission鈥檚 remedial Senate plan for the next election cycle,鈥� the opinion said.
Isabella Volmert, The Associated Press
