DETROIT — The deadline for individual members of Michigan's redistricting commission to submit their own maps passed Monday at noon with the commission sticking with rules it previously adopted requiring individual commissioners' maps to undergo a 45-day public comment period in order to be considered.
It was not immediately clear how many individual commissioners submitted their own maps, but some commissioners said they opted not to submit any because they would prefer to adopt a map drawn collaboratively by the group.
The commission will consider individual commissioners' maps in the event none of the maps the group spent months drawing together receives the majority vote of the 13-member commission with the support of at least two Democratic, two Republican and two independent members.
The commission recently approved three U.S. House, three Michigan Senate and three Michigan House maps, setting them up for a final vote by the end of the year.
The Michigan Constitution requires those collaborative maps to undergo a 45-day public comment period, but the constitutional language is somewhat ambiguous on whether the individual maps must also be subject to a comment period.
The commission's general counsel, Julianne Pastula, said the process adopted by the commission last week laying out the procedure for submitting and considering maps drawn by individual commissioners was at odds with her own interpretation of the Michigan Constitution.
But during a Monday meeting, Pastula said the group did not need to change its rules based on guidance provided by the commission's litigation counsel, BakerHostetler, in a confidential memo reviewed by commissioners.
M.C. Rothhorn, the Democratic vice chair of the commission, said he hopes the group will adopt the maps it drew together.
"I think we want more people to trust this process and when they see us working together, that builds trust, so I think that is our greatest hope," he said.
"I haven't seen the individual maps — maybe they're great, but we certainly worked hard as a collaborative group to put forward what we consider to be good maps," said Steve Lett, an independent commissioner.
Lett put forward a motion during the commission's meeting Thursday to allow individual commissioners to advance their own maps to a 45-day public comment period without the approval of the commission. The motion passed 9-3.
Lett also put forward a motion to confine the maps that could be considered in the event the group fails to adopt one of its own to only those individual commission maps that have undergone a 45-day public comment period. The motion passed 8-4.
Lett argued that the state constitution does not allow individual members to put forward a plan that neither the commissioners nor the public has had a chance to vet.
"Nowhere in here does it say you get to put in a new plan totally out of thin air because you can't decide," he said.
If the commission does not adopt one of its own maps and considers maps drawn by individual commissioners, each member would rank those plans in order of preference.
A commissioner's last choice would receive one point and the top choice receiving the number of points that equals the total number of plans submitted.
The commission would adopt the highest ranked plan if it meets certain criteria.
If the highest ranked plan was submitted by a Democratic or Republican commissioner, it must also fall in the top half of ranked plans by at least two commissioners not affiliated with the party of the commissioner who submitted the plan. If the highest ranked plan was submitted by an independent commissioner, it must also fall in the top half of ranked plans by at least two commissioners affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties.
If no plan meets that requirement, the secretary of state would randomly select a final plan among all of the plans submitted. If two plans are tied for the highest number of points, the secretary of state would break the tie by randomly selecting one of the plans.
The group is planning to hold a vote to adopt one U.S. House, Michigan Senate and Michigan House map in late December.
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