This is the first of what we expect to be several lawsuits arguing the state of Michigan’s new districts violate federal law.

For the first time in Michigan’s history, an independent commission of citizens have redrawn the state’s political districts.

The Michigan Redistricting Commission will start the process of voting on new voting districts for the next decade.

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.