April 27, 2019

Federal court cuts gerrymandering in Michigan

NPR -A federal court in Michigan says that the state's Republican-controlled legislature unfairly drew some of Michigan's state legislative and U.S. House district lines and that a divided government will have to come up with new boundaries.

A panel of three judges said that 27 of 34 challenged districts diluted the weight of people's votes and that every challenged district is unconstitutional.

"This court joins the growing chorus of federal courts that have, in recent years, held that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional," the judges said in their opinion.

The lawsuit was filed by the League of Women Voters of Michigan. The group said that Republicans had drawn political district lines to disadvantage Democrats, bringing out emails that the court says show a deliberate attempt by Republicans to ensure their party continued to have a majority in government.

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