LANSING, Mich. — Several groups will sue to challenge Michigan's new state House map, alleging it's biased toward Republicans and should be redrawn to be fairer to Democrats.
The lawsuit will be the third seeking to block congressional or legislative plans created by a new redistricting panel.
The state constitution says districts "shall not provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party." It's the fourth-ranked criteria.
The commission's own analysis shows a pro-Republican tilt in three scores that measure partisan fairness. But a fourth metric shows the party winning the most votes statewide would control the House. That frequently didn't happen under maps drawn by the Republican-led Legislature.
Earlier in January, Michigan Republicans moved to block the congressional map, alleging that a commission that drew the map arbitrarily and inconsistently applied redistricting criteria in the state constitution.
They also cited population deviations, splitting of municipal lines and carving up "communities of interest" as being constitutionally flawed.
The lawsuit contends counties are "Michigan's true communities of interest" and proposes a new map that would leave more counties intact and increase compactness.
Before that lawsuit was filed, Black lawmakers in the state filed a lawsuit contending that the new map illegally dilutes the voting power of Black voters.
The map is fairer politically to Democrats but has drawn criticism because it slashes the number of seats where African Africans account for a majority of the voting-age population.
Commissioners say Black voters can still elect their candidates of choice without comprising at least half of a district's electorate.
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