An independent commission is drawing out Michigan’s new political maps, but time is running out to get the job done.

A clash over the Michigan Constitution has hit the state’s highest court.

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan’s redistricting commission will ask the state Supreme Court to delay the deadline to finish new congressional and legislative maps by nearly three months and give candidates 25 extra days to file to run. The pending request is due to an eight-month delay in data from the U.S. Census bureau. It wants a Jan. 25 deadline to adopt the lines, following a 45-day public comment period. The current deadline is Nov. 1 under a 2018 anti-gerrymandering constitutional amendment that created the commission, which will draw maps instead of the Legislature. It was updated on March 26 to correct that the delay in drawing new political maps would be nearly three months, not nearly two months.

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is comprised of four Republicans, four Democrats and five independents who were selected at random from a pool of more than 9,000 applicants. The commission is made up of people from most parts of the state, but most come from eastern Michigan and none live in the Upper Peninsula. Three of the 13 are not white, which is roughly in line with the percentage of non-white residents in the state. The commission will begin meeting in the fall and use census data to redraw lines by Nov. 1, 2021. The commission was formed after voters passed a state constitutional amendment in 2018 to allow an independent group of Michigan residents, instead of partisan legislators, to redraw the states electoral boundaries.

DETROIT Michigans Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is denying to rehear cases filed by parties questioning the constitutionality of Michigans Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. One lawsuit was filed by Michigan citizens claiming that the eligibility criteria to serve as a commissioner is unconstitutional. The plaintiffs appealed the cases after a district court initially denied the motions. The Sixth Circuit Court upheld the district courts decision in April, and again denied to rehear the cases Friday. The goal of Michigans Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is to level the playing field through bipartisan redistricting.