It is imperative that the commission keeps the divide line at Fulton Street. Kent County needs to stay together.

This map is pushing rural areas into metropolitan areas. These are clearly two different types of voting groups. You are using higher density (normally Democratic) into smaller community voting communities that are usually republican. You are clearly using high population areas to override smaller communities!!! This is the same as what was happening before.

These need to do better to reach partisan fairness. Washtenaw county needs to be unpacked to do this.

This splits Oakland County into so many small pieces and attaches it to other counties that do not share similar backgrounds and communities of interest. Stop using Oakland County as a pin cushion to address a numbers issue.

This is a poor map. It would give the Republican Party a 6-point advantage in the maps, so even if the Democrats won by 5 points the Republicans would get control of the chamber. Fair maps shouldn't have a partisan advantage, and it's imperative for the Commission to ensure a partisan gap of zero. This map needs to go back to the drawing board.

This map has 6 Voting Rights Act districts versus Promote The Vote’s map with 7

This map takes away voting rights of Black people in Detroit

This map is unfair and gives the majority of seats to the minority party.

This map hurts us in Monroe. It severs us from our natural Downriver community of interest. All of our major corridors in the eastern part of Monroe: Telegraph, I-75, and I-275, and the lakefront and port, tie us to with the Downriver community. There are no major corridors that tie us way out west to Saint Joseph, or any of those rural areas. Tim Walberg put out a campaign for this map because it favors him. The people that submitted this map are tied to his campaign. This map serves him, it doesn't serve the public, especially not us in Monroe.

When learning about the gerrymandering process and what it meant, it was explained to me that we are supposed to vote within communities. We should have something in common with the people of our district. The way our current district is drawn is pretty much the same as this "new" one. I have NOTHING in common with the towns in the western part of this map. I have never been there, know no one there, etc. From what I understand, that entire area is rural. I live in the city of Monroe. This map and our current district map completely ignore city concerns and issues as my vote is completely drowned out by rural people and needs. I feel like our district should include Monroe County and cut off at the county line and extend upwards into familiar and similar communities. Southern Wayne county is a mix of rural and suburban, just like the city of Monroe. This "new" map is just as bad as the first one.

This map is too favorable to Republicans

During the 10/22 Redistricting Commission meeting in Grand Rapids, several suggestions were made to improve the north Grand Rapids district 24 to much improve the Communities of Interest aspect. The suggestions were to remove the four Ottawa County townships included in the district that have no commonality with Kent County Grand Rapids and suburbs and add Cascade Township adjacent to Ada Township because of its close relationship with the core six cities. The map supplied showing these suggestions ( https://davesredistricting.org/join/43230428-2697-4c99-9a2c-e09ee77863d1) has been expanded show how to integrate this map with the Elm 199, Cherry 220, and Spruce 226 map configurations without changing the remainder of the state Senate districts outside this region. Map ( https://davesredistricting.org/join/ebc896af-6efa-41f6-ab96-7b52d94fb43a) details slight reconfigurations of the adjacent three out of six districts to integrate this configuration without disturbing the remainder of the state map. The four Ottawa County townships were moved from district 24 to district 33. They could not be incorporated into Ottawa County district 22 because Ottawa has too large a population to have a complete Senate district unless Holland City is removed. Thus, District 22 (Ottawa County) was not changed. Also, District 34 (Muskegon County) was not changed and the South side Grand Rapids district 23 remains as is. Cascade and Algoma townships that are closely tied to the six city Grand Rapids core in Kent County were added to district 24, District 20 was changed to incorporate more townships south of Kent County and District 3 was changed to include some parts of Ionia County that were previously in District 33. Changes to these districts maintain or improve their commonality of culture and characteristics. In summary, the improved Community of Interest configuration of district 24 on the north side of Grand Rapids was implemented with minimal changes to the surrounding districts and maintains the remainder of the state Senate map as is.

This map returns a majority of seats to the minority party. It's unfair and deprives Black voters in Detroit of adequate representation.

Farmington and Farmington Hills should be in the same district. We share schools, libraries and other community interests.

This map is unfair and gives a majority of seats to the minority party.

Thank you for the many days and hours you have put into this important task. I believe the Senate map for district 32 does not well represent the COIs of the different communities with-in those lines. The larger mass of Clinton and Shiawassee Counties leans strongly conservative, while the Lansing, E. Lansing (MSU), and Okemos communities have a concentrated liberal influence, covering a much smaller area. Add to that that the college students who may vote as residents, most of the time won't be permanent residents in the area affected by their vote. With this map, the larger concentrated population of the liberal cities (approximately 17% of the land mass) will have a major influence over the rural areas (83% of the area represented) . Thus representation may favor the big cities over the larger rural area. The east side of Lansing, E. Lansing, and Okemos should be included in the district that the west side of Lansing is in. I know that you would then have to balance the population out. I would think that that could be done by going to similar COIs to the north, east, or west. Thank you.

This map takes away voting rights of Black people in Detroit.

Please move the prison population to an overpopulated district to address prison gerrymandering.

And all the surrounding areas are strong Republican districts no matter how they are configured. This map ensures that all the districts in West Michigan will be Republican and Democrats will not be represented even though there are strong Democrat neighborhoods in the city.

This map takes away voting rights of Black people in Detroit. It is unfair and gives the majority of seats to the minority party.

Fulton St. as the border of this district should be changed to Wealthy St, since Wealthy St. is the border for the traditional Wards of Grand Rapids, and city wards must be kept together.

Cascade, which contains the Gerald Ford airport, belongs with the Grand Rapids metro area, not with Battle Creek. Cascade should be part of district 24.

First let me thank all of you for your hard work on this endeavor-I campaigned for proposal 2 and even if I may not agree with all the maps, it is important that re-districting is no longer in the hands of politicians. It is difficult for each of you to know the make-up all areas in Michigan-hence these comments are very important. To wit- Senate map Elm-3 problems on this map: Again Wealthy, NOT Fulton, is the division between City Wards 2 and 3. Please honor this in dividing the city. Cascade Township is a suburb of Grand Rapids, containing the Gerald Ford International Airport which is strongly linked to the GR community. There is very little connection between Cascade Township and Battle Creek. Ottawa County should remain whole. To link 4 Ottawa townships to Grand Rapids, does those townships a disservice. Their county seat is Grand Haven and their politics emanate from that city.

Western Grand Rapids is NOT rural Ottowa do not drown out the vote with this bias gerrymander.

This map is unfair and gives the majority of seats to the minority party

Don't divide Livonia. We are a community. We are similar to Canton, Northville, Plymouth. Similar to cities west of us, not east. Thanks.

Cascade is too far away and unrelated to the Battle Creek area.

The airport is nowhere near to Battle Creek. It funded by business from Grand Rapids area. Move it back to the metro. Cascade Township is a suburb of Grand Rapids- include it in Grand Rapids State Senate districts.

This map takes away voting rights of Black people in Detroit

Keep Grand Rapids district whole. Don't split it up!

what a waste of taxpayer money! It looks like something the Republicans put together and have been using for the past 10 years. Why couldn’t you have just done a grid map and be done with it why all the special interest bullshit. And why does it lien Republican!? It has been dramatically leaning Republican for the past 20 years why give them the advantage yet again! Sure water down the votes in Detroit again! Do your job right!

The packing of votes in Washtenaw County is an unfair waste of many votes. It shouldn't be happening anywhere.

The commissioners maps pack voters together in Washtenaw County and too many votes are wasted. Unpack Washtenaw and other counties.

A 54.2% Republican lean in this district (29) is totally unnecessary and unfair. The law requires fair maps and this is not fair. Moving the line a little or unpacking Ann Arbor a little would create a fair district.

This is a terrible map. Again, you have drawn districts vertically, crossing county lines. I'm in Sterling Heights; our COI do NOT stretch all the way to the Detroit River. It would be much more fair to keep all of Sterling Heights and Warren together in one State Senate District; and start over by drawing many districts HORIZONTALLY. You must STOP crossing county lines; this is not empty farmland or fields. Your maps should be more compact, not salamander-like in appearance as they are in this poorly constructed map. Are you achieving partisan fairness? That is, as near to 50/50 as possible? Please remember that that is what Prop 2 was all about. Gerrymandering should be gone and done with. We the majority of the citizens of Michigan want fairness in our maps and thus in our voting results. So, begin again. Thank you.

Fenton and Fenton Township being in Genesee County are a part of the Flint, Burton, Clio community of interest as all are satellites of Flint, all receiving support from county government agencies and utilizing schools of higher education, theaters, and cultural offerings. Putting Fenton and Fenton township is district 31 removes them from their community of interest and puts them is a very uncompetitive and unrepresentative district.

As an independent voter , this is a plan for Midland city and Midland county that I cannot support. Midland city and county have serious flood issues and other interests more aligned with the counties to the north and west of city and county.

Please Kalamazoo Co together don't push us further west. We don't share the same values of those other rural communities.

Thank you for your work on these maps, but as I look at this one, it still would not result in the party that gets the most votes getting the most seats. This is a Democratic-leaning state and at best, Democrats would get a tie in the Senate. Please consider unpacking some of the smaller cities such as Ann Arbor. Many people in Livingston County commute to Washtenaw County for jobs, school, health care, and some have recently moved here from Washtenaw County due to housing prices. It would be reasonable to pair them.

This map is unfair. It gives the majority of seats to the minority party.

The City of Burton should not be split for Senate Districts. Lapeer County should not be included in a district with Northern Genesee County. The City of Burton is a community of interest that has never been split for the State Senate districts.

This is a very unfair map; it creates exactly the kind of partisan bias this commission was instituted to avoid. Please try again. (See the AFL-CIO Fair Maps Project)

Berrien County should be kept whole, preferably with a the bias being more of a southwestern district ( possibly including Van Buren and Cass counties) rather than a purely southern district (one stretching from the lake shore all the way to Hillsdale makes no sense).

Combining Sterling Heights with Troy and northern Oakland County would result in a Senate District with very widely varying needs. While Troy and Sterling Heights are fairly similar, the needs of northern Oakland communities are very different, especially since so many of them are still converting areas to city water and gas. State funds are more effective when focused on common problems and not spread across many disparate projects.

The partisan distribution in the accompanying data file makes no sense; each of 38 senate districts contain > 1.2 million voters: impossible. Clearly, Ann arbor needs to be unpacked. I would split it into east/west districts. Living on the east side, our interests often overlap with Ypsilanti: St Joe hospital, shopping on Carpenter, EMU events, Growing Hope, WCC and other overlapping interests (roads, intersections, police). The west of Ann Arbor is more aligned with Scio township, Barton Village, Dexter and Chelsea. For the 36 years I've lived here, my Democratic vote has been wasted in the Michigan Senate. The wasted vote in Ann Arbor is huge and I'm sure the 'Voters not Politicians' envisioned unpacking this city. That's what I voted for. Fix this.

Lake shore communities need a Senate representative who understands special needs of our communities. Lakeshore erosion and property damage, the ineffective current patchwork responses to this problem, the lack of living wage jobs in a tourist economy are just some of the unique issues lakeshore communities face. Please reconfigure this map which as drawn unites disparate communities such as Benton Harbor with its current lead/water problem, huge swaths of rural Van Buren and and Allegan counties and suburban Grand Rapids communities. One solution would be to have a long lakeshore district from New Buffalo area narrowly extending up the lakeshore as far as needed to meet population guidelines. I know you have so much to balance but this district needs significant editing to unite communities of interest.

Please move the prison population in to an overpopulated district to address prison gerrymandering.

As a life long resident of Genesee County I am disappointed to be added to the county south of me.

Farmington Hills should not be in District 11. It should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington and Farmington Hills should be united in a district. We share a school district and library system and many community endeavors. Milford and Commerce should be put in District 11 instead.

This map is unfair and gives the majority of seats to the minority party.

Farmington Hills should not be in District 11. It should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington and Farmington Hills should be united in a district. We share a school district and library system and many community endeavors.

Farmington Hills should not be in District 11. It should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington and Farmington Hills should be united in a district. We share a school district and library system and many community endeavors. Milford and Commerce should be put in District 11 instead.

Farmington Hills should not be District 11. We should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Since Farmington and Farmington Hills share the same school and library systems both should be together in one district. Milford and Commerce should be in District 11.

As a citizen in northern Rockford I don't understand why we would split the school district into 2 different seats. I would encourage that the district map for the very large division 1 school district stay in tact for the district and surrounding communities that are with Rockford school district.

Farmington Hills should be in district 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington Hills and Farmington should both remain in the same district as we share common school, library and other community events.

Don't split Farmington/Farmington hills. We share schools, library and many public/community projects.

Due to multiple common interests (schools, library, community center) Farmington Hills and the City of Farmington should remain in one district. Splitting Farmington Hills itself makes no sense at all!

Muskegon and North Muskegon should be combined with areas to the south which are similarly urban and suburban as opposed to the areas to the north which are primarily rural and/or vacation areas.

It makes no sense to split Farmington and Farmington Hills. We are one community with a shared history, one school district, library system and many cultural activities and services. To split us in two is a travesty, especially in a district with cities to the far west of us. We have more common concerns with West Bloomfield and areas to our north.

Farmington Hills should not be in District 11. It should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington and Farmington Hills should be united in a district. We share a school district and library system and many community endeavors. Milford and Commerce should be put in District 11 instead.

Farmington Hills should not be in District 11. It should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington and Farmington Hills should be united in a district. We share a school district and library system and many community endeavors. Milford and Commerce should be put in District 11 instead.

Cascade Township is in the community interest of 24.

Keep Ottawa County with Ottawa County, same community of interest.

I do like this more than how it has been. That said, I like how Holly is moved to 31 and I feel the demographics of Highland are such that it should also be part of that district. Again, this is better than the current, but still as a Planning Commissioner for over 20 years I can tell you that Highland is not the same as West Bloomfield, or even Waterford and White Lake. Milford is a bit closer but Highland fits much better with Holly and, well, all of Livingston County.

Do not split Farmington/Farmington Hills! We share schools and other public services. Keep them as one!

Farmington Hills should not be in District 11. It should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington and Farmington Hills should be united in a district. We share a school district and library system and many community endeavors. Milford and Commerce should be put in District 11 instead.

Farmington Hills should not be in District 11. It should be in District 18 with West Bloomfield and Waterford. Farmington and Farmington Hills should be united in a district as we share school districting and library systems and many other community endeavors.

I would strongly suggest the rejection of this map. Not only does it break Ottawa County into three districts, it combines a rural section of Ottawa County with an urban section of Kent County. I find it hard to believe that one person could adequately represent the different needs of a rural and urban population. One side or the other would lose their voice.

This map takes away voting rights from Black Detroiters. Unfair map

This map is unfair. This does not reflect partisan fairness and removes VRA districts

Superior Township (Washtenaw co) has nothing in common with the population of Plymouth (Wayne Co) and South Lyons (Oakland Co). School, county services, and taxes go to different counties to support those service. It would impossible for a representative to fairly represent this current map. Please remove add my section of Superior Township from district 11 and add us to district 27

Unsure how to remove my previous "like" that was made in error thinking this was a different map. This map is NOT a good map. Cherry is the better of the Senate maps for district 12 but the maps overall need to have closer to zero bias.

This map is horrible and should be discarded. No representative can fairly represent the communities as far west and north as they are and Grosse ile is a DOWNRIVER community - not a rural community. Grosse Ile aligns with Trenton, Southgate, Wyandotte in dozens of ways and belongs With them.

This is a horrible map.

This map artificially cuts the city of Midland away from our county and watershed neighbors. It will be a massive effort to re-build the dams and lakes which directly flow into and affect the city of Midland. Please keep Midland whole and with our watershed partners who are our true community of intereset.

Please keep Ottawa Co together.

District 27 is still packed with too many Dems packed into one district. Please unpack this district so that it is more fairly represented!

In 2020, in Michigan, Democratic voters had 53% of votes, it seems these maps should lean toward democrats having more representation than republicans. This map does not reflect that fact.

Farmington Hills is split into two parts. Farmington and Farmington hills are split in two parts. They should be TOGETHER because we share a SCHOOL SYSTEM and Library System and community organizations.

District 27 is still packed. Too many Dems jammed into one district! Please fix this ASAP!

This, and the other two currently proposed Senate maps, lump Battle Creek and Calhoun County together with Barry County and areas to the NW with whom we share very little. As previously commented and testified to, our strongest COI lies with Kalamazoo and Albion along the I-94 Corridor. There are other maps available that honor this COI. Please consider those instead.

This map is the best option of all those given if one is looking for communities of interest as the main goal. It is lacking in this area once you go west of St. Joseph County. Berrien and Cass County are not good choices for Branch, St. Joseph and Hillsdale counties. A better choice with the object of communities of interest in mind would be Lenawee, Jackson and possibly Washtenaw. The standards set forth in the Michigan Constitution would best be followed by grouping the above mentioned counties together. I believe the proposed map is too partisan in nature, something the Michigan Redistricting Commission was put in place to avoid.

This map makes zero sense in regards to Cascade township, which is the eastern Grand Rapids metro area. The Grand Rapids airport is in Cascade Township, yet you are separating it from the Grand Rapids area and putting it in a district that extends south through Battle Creek and the rural areas of Barry County. The airport and all the industries and warehouses that surround it need to be represented by a Grand Rapids centered district. Cascade Township needs to be added to the northern Grand Rapids district.

This is a very disappointing map .Please review and add Cascade Township to SS#24.The Gerald Ford Airport is what metro Grand Rapids uses. That is in Cascade Township, Keep Cascade with metro Grand Rapids.

Why is Detroit broken up beyond recognition? Terrible map, does not meet the intent of the ballot initiative.

The Downriver communities from Melvindale/Ecorse/River Rouge south to Gibralter/Flatrock should remain in one district. We have needs substantially different than Detroit, the far western suburbs and the Monroe region. Political parties aside, the Downriver communities have always been united for our region.

Good evening, I am Pamela Martin Turner, President and CEO of Vanguard Community Development Corporation. Vanguard is a non-profit organization, serving Detroit's Historic North End neighborhood since 1994. We provide services in Community Engagement, Economic Development and Housing. I am here to support redistricting that puts the North End in one district, not two (8 & 17). Splitting the neighborhood, which includes East Boston and Arden Park, diminishes residents' political access and dilutes their political voice/power. The North End is one community. It is Historic and must be in one district, not two. Thank you. Pamela Martin Turner, President and CEO Vanguard Community Development Corp Pmturner@vanguardcdc.org

Good evening, My name is Monica Edmonds and I'm the Vice President of Community Engagement and Planning for Vanguard Community Development Corporation. Vanguard has served the Historic North End neighborhood since 1994. I am here to support redistricting that puts the North End neighborhood in one district instead of split between two (Districts 8 and 17). Splitting the neighborhoods, which includes Arden Park and East Boston, diminishes residents' political access and dilutes their political power. The North End is one community. It is a Historic neighborhood and must be one district not two. Thank you. Monica Edmonds Vanguard Community Development Corp.

I work with Vanguard Community Development Corporation, a non-profit organization serving Detroit's Historic North End neighborhood since 1994. I am here to support redistricting that puts the North End in one district instead of split between two as it is now (District 8 and 17). Splitting the neighborhood, which includes Arden Park/East Boston, diminishes residents' political access and dilutes their political power. The North End is one community; historic; and must be in one district, not two. Thank you.

Silly. AA and Ypsi should be separate. And why the little carve out to include Saline. No one would be happy.

Don’t see why four townships in Ottawa county would be included in district #24 with the city areas. They are low population country townships and outside the busy area of Kent County. They should stay in Ottawa county with other like townships. They do not share any have any or share any services like water, sewer, public transportation, or waste removal. The do not have issues with low-cost housing or city police/fire protection. There is no common Community of Interest.

So many people addressed COI during the public hearing in Jackson. We sincerely asked that Jackson County NOT be swallowed up by Ann Arbor. These two areas share nothing more than a fondness for football. Hardly a reason to ask one person to represent the widely varying interests of the two areas.

Cascade Township and the Grand Rapids Airport should be in a district with Grand Rapids (District 24).

The southern boundary of District 24 should be Wealthy Street rather than Fulton. This is consistent with the city's Ward 2 boundary.

Rural Ottawa County does not fit with an urban area such as Grand Rapids and shouldn't be in District 24. Ottawa County should all be in the same district.

There is no reason to split a county, especially Midland County. We are connected via watershed to our neighbors to our west and north. The City of Midland is connected to the entire county, supplying municipal water, solid waste solutions, floodplain management. Keep Midland County Whole.

District 23 composed of the South side of Grand Rapids metro area is packed with Democratic votes. This can be improved by moving the north limit of 23 south to match the City Ward 2 line at Wealthy Street and expanding south into Gaines Township. The northern part of Gaines Township looks like a suburb of the six-city area and shares a school District with Kentwood. People north of Wealthy Street align more closely with the middle-class district 24. Also, the north district 24 should have Cascade Township included as it is also a suburb of the six-city area.

I live in Cascade Township. It should to be part of a Senate district with the Greater Grand Rapids city area. Going from my home to any area around the city you can not tell the difference in landscape, residences, shopping and businesses. We are essentially a suburb of Grand Rapids. The city airport is in our area. Ideally, we would be in district 24 with Ada Township as they are a very similar community and we share a school system. The current map has us grouped with rural farming communities all the way down to Barry and Allegan counties. These are country type environments that bear no resemblance to our community.

This is terrible map. There are multiple issues with the VRA, Detroit is chopped up WAY too much (and I do understand the idea was not to "pack" the district but you instead have watered down the voting power of Black residents in Detroit. This could be much better but is a candidate for a lawsuit as is.

Commerce is more suburban and diverse and has little in common with the rural north and west. This map would strongly favor Republicans.

Under the current configuration of State Senate District 7, the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods have very little in common with the rural in north Macomb and southern St. Clair Counties aside from proximity to Lake St. Clair. The Grosse Pointes, Harper Woods and the east side of Detroit have several shared and common interests such as regional bus system, cultural and recreational facilities and, the communities are served by regional medical facilities that include: Ascension St. John Hospital in Detroit, Henry Ford in Grosse Pointe Farms, and William Beaumont Hospital in Grosse Pointe Park, the communities share common shopping districts including those along Mack, Kercheval, Charlevoix and East Jefferson, and the "Eastland" complex in Harper Woods. The Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods communities share a common border with the east side of the City of Detroit, Lake St. Clair, and Detroit River. The communities share common recreation and environmental concerns with the lake and river along with air quality, the communities share common governmental interests, and are part of and served by Wayne County government, and the communities share educational resources such as Wayne County RISD, Wayne County Community College in Harper Woods, and Wayne State University in Detroit. The Grosse Pointes and part of Harper Woods are in the Grosse Pointe Schools system; and the communities have shared values regarding social justice and civic activism lead by the interjurdictional League of Women Voters of Grosse Pointe [and Harper Woods], the Grosse Pointes and Harper Woods NACCP and We GP, a Grosse-Pointe based social justice group. These groups have initiated voter registration drives, teach-ins, marches, and other events that drew participants from across the jurisdictions and further connected our communities.

There are a large number of Democrats in the Grand Rapids Kent County area (over 250,000 voters) and they deserve to have fair representation in the State Senate in two districts. The way the north district number 24 is currently configured, it will be very difficult to elect a Democratic Senator. The district 23 on the south side is overloaded with Democrats. Suggest keeping the north 24 district all in Kent County and contiguous with the 6-city area plus close townships. This provides for a reasonable chance of electing a Democrat. There are a number of choices for expansion in Kent County. Include Algoma township to the north, move Cascade township into the district and/or move the border between 24 and the south 23 district southward. Thanks for your diligent efforts to create fair maps for all.

Northern Ottawa county needs to be separated from Kent County

Monroe County has much more in common with the downriver area. We share the I 75 corridor and the western shore of Lake Erie. Monroe county is the connector between Metro Detroit and Toledo, not the connector of SE MI farms. The maps in general that have been drawn thus far do not follow your Constitutionally mandated criteria to draw FAIR Maps. As drawn they favor Republicans getting elected over Democrats. Historically, more votes are cast for Democrats in MI, but due to gerrymandering, more Republicans win seats in Lansing. Please don't continue this unfair practice.

The proposed redistricting would be a complete disaster for Newaygo county residents and businesses. There is no reasonable basis of support for this in Newaygo County.

This map doesn't come close to achieving partisan fairness and treats Detroit very badly by slicing it up into many suburban districts.

This district map can easily be simplified to measurably improve the Communities of Interest aspect so a Senator can represent a homogeneous group of people with similar legislative issues. Add Cascade Township to district #24 and remove the four townships in Ottawa County (Tallmadge, Wright, Polkton, Allendale). Cascade Township is a suburb of Grand Rapids and does not belong where it is in district 96 with all the rural farming communities in that district. The four townships in Ottawa County are also rural low population farming communities. Keep them with Ottawa county. Probably have to add Algoma Township to Rockford City to get the #24 district population right. Rockford City is in Algoma Township and they have a combined school district. Might have to move the dividing line between district #24 and #23 in Grand Rapids east of the river down to the city Ward 2 boundary along Wealthy Street. Suggestions are shown on this example map https://davesredistricting.org/join/43230428-2697-4c99-9a2c-e09ee77863d1

Cascade township should be in the north #24 district. It is very similar in character to Ada Township to the north. Certainly, it should be attached to the Grand Rapids city areas rather than where it is now combined with rural farming townships going all the way down south to Allegan and Barry Counties

These maps still tilt Republican, in a state that tends to lean Democratic in its voting. The party that gets more votes should have more seats. Please work to correct the partisan bias.

I live on the west side of Grand Rapids in Walker. I was surprised to see the four Ottawa Townships included in the north side #24 Senate district. They have no relationship to the west side city area. They are very sparsely populated farming communities compared to where we live in the city. Recommend removing them from this district and replacing with areas closer to the city in Kent County that are more like us.

Who is Grosse Pointe Park left out of the Lake St. Clair Community?

Cascade Township has much more in terms of shared interests with Ada and Forest Hills and should be moved to District 24 (northern Kent County) not attached to Battle Creek.

All of the 38 district proposals fail to minimize county breaks as much as possible. There is no reason for a county to be split into 3 districts. This is a clear gerrymander. Also, you are diluting the African American representation. Please see my proposal: https://districtr.org/plan/48514

These Ottawa townships are rural and do NOT belong with Grand Rapids. Keep Ottawa whole - but please not put it with Grand Rapids.

Why do you insist on breaking up Downriver? Ecorse, River Rouge, Detroit 48217, Lincoln Park, Allen Park and Taylor belong with Wyandotte, Southgate, Riverview and south to the Monroe border. Why are you so concerned about black or white or asian? We don't look at our neighbors that way. We are all a part of Downriver and should have representation as a single unit.

Why do you insist on breaking up Downriver? Ecorse, River Rouge, Detroit 48217, Lincoln Park, Allen Park and Taylor belong with Wyandotte, Southgate, Riverview and south to the Monroe border. Why are you so concerned about black or white or asian? We don't look at our neighbors that way. We are all a part of Downriver and should have representation as a single unit.

Metro Detroit, as long as I've lived, has philosophically separated suburbs by East and West. Drilling down farther, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties are decidedly different from each other. My Senate district 16 now includes a chunk of Warren, in Macomb County. Residents of Oakland do not share many common interests with residents of Macomb. Oakland is more white collar, big in legal and professional services, requires masks in school and follows scientific evidence. Macomb is more blue collar, industrial manufacturing related, does not require masks in school and is a hotbed of conspiracy theories. These are just a few significant examples of the mismatch of common interests in Senate District 16.

If precincts need to be added, include the northern parts of Gaines Township in the Kentwood School District along M-6. The linked map achieves these goals https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::43230428-2697-4c99-9a2c-e09ee77863d1

Cascade township should be included in the northern Kent County District (District 24), because: -Ford Airport: The airport is in Cascade (but technically part of GR City) and should be represented by a metro Representative -Cascade fits with the northern district because it is in Forest Hills School District (along with Ada and Grand Rapids Townships). It will provide a more cohesive Community of Interest than what is currently shown – more affluent middle-class neighborhoods. -Cascade is not a Metro 6 City, but it is a rapidly suburbanizing area becoming increasingly a bedroom community with residential neighborhoods and fewer farms. It is an integral part of Grand Rapids metro area in terms of neighborhoods, business and shopping. -Cascade township is now shown in District 3 with all of Barry County and part of Allegan County. Doesn’t fit at all. These are very rural farming communities which would have very different and sometimes conflicting issues and needs from Cascade township

please put Cascade Township with the Grand Rapids State Senate districts. Cascade Township should NOT be with Battle Creek.

The border between Senate Districts 24 and 23 should be moved to Wealthy Street, which is the border between Wards 2 and 3 in Grand Rapids and keeps Ward 2 residents in the same Senate district. There are only three wards in GR and they have had those boundaries for over 40 years. Ward 2 & Ward 3 are core internal GR identities/Communities of Interest. The current Ward system has existed in Grand Rapids since the 1980s and has long standing meaning and value to Grand Rapidians. This change helps to unpack the Democratic voter concentration in the south #23 district. The district line should follow precinct boundaries along Wealthy Street not Fulton Avenue. This adds the benefit of keeping GVSU downtown campus intact. People north of Wealthy Street align more closely with north district - more affluent middle-class neighborhoods

We do not want to have a State Senate District that includes parts of Ottawa County when there is room to go north from the Six Cities (GR, EGR, Kentwood, Wyoming, Grandville or Walker). Kent County is the 4th largest county in Michigan and deserves to have at least two State Senators guaranteed to be from Kent County. These 2 Senate districts have over ½ million people with a high percentage Democratic content. This area deserves to have 2 Democratic competitive Senate seats. There is not a community of interest between Kent and Ottawa Counties.

Senate districts should be based in the Metro Six Cities (GR, EGR, Kentwood, Wyoming, Grandville or Walker). These six cities share water, sewer, transit and waste management. It seems often in the past we’ve been represented in the Senate by people from Lowell, Gaines or Cannon Township, not the Six Cities. Surrounding suburban townships should be added only when necessary. Certainly, Townships in Ottawa county have no community of interest with North Grand Rapids, so keep Ottawa County separate from Kent County when possible

please redraw this map, leaving washtenaw county out of 29. Jackson is a very conservative county where as Washtenaw is very liberal; connecting them as drawn here does not represent a community of interest as so many participants stated in the past several months

Cascade Township contains the Gerald R Ford airport. This Township has nothing to do with Battle Creek. It belongs to the Grand Rapids Metro!

Keep Ottawa county to Ottawa. How is the rural area in Ottawa county share the same demographic as the Grand Rapids and it's urban area?

The Grosse Pointes, Harper Woods and the east side of Detroit have many shared interests such as commerce, culture, public transit, health care and recreation. As urban and nearby suburban communities we have much more in common than with distant rural communities.

East Lansing and Lansing are strongly tied communities of interest and should not be in separate districts. This is demonstrated by the large number of people living in East Lansing who work for the state in Lansing, and these cities share: public transportation, a name, 911 call center, and active adult living communities. Lansing should definitely not be divided but should include East Lansing. I resided in East Lansing for 30 years and personally lived and saw the commonalities between those two cities, working in one, living in the other, along with so many of our East Lansing neighbors. Alternatively, drawing the district line at the Clinton County line or State Road (latitude), major road south of Clinton County line, so that any small portion of East Lansing to the North of that line is in the same district of all of Clinton County makes much more sense. This would be far less disruptive to both communities. Once I moved into southern Clinton County, I saw a drastic differences between the communities and interests and common values, between the combined Lansing/East Lansing and Bath Township area that still exits. Therefore, please keep the vast majority East Lansing and all of Lansing in the same district, not to be included with Clinton County or areas to the north.

Because the airport for Grand Rapids is in Cascade Township this area should be with District 24 as they are a community of interest

Wealthy street should be the boundary of District 23 & 24 because it is a ward line

I think Ottawa County is a community of interest and should be kept whole

Cascade township is more aligned with East Grand Rapids and Kentwood and has nothing to do with Battlecreek. Cascade needs to be contained in state seat 24 as that is where it's tax dollars go.

The map is ridiculous - only benefits democrats - as usual.

I feel this map does not allow for Barry County to have a voice. the people of Kentwood, Grand Rapids and Battle Creek would out weigh our voice. They are not of like community of interest. we would be better lumped in with western Ingham County and parts of southern Ionia County.

This district is packed and the efficiency gap is way too high. Only close to 0% bias is acceptable.

Please move Cascade Township and the GR airport back to GR Metro. It makes more sense than being in the same district as Battle Creek.

Please move the border from Fulton to Wealthy St - as it keeps the boundary along the ward lines, and keeps GVSU together.

Ottawa County townships are very different than metro GR and should stay in Ottawa County.

The commission's maps pack voters together in Washtenaw and waste many of their votes. In order to make fair maps across the state Washtenaw, and other areas, need to be unpacked.

Farmington and Farmington Hills are one community that share a history, school district, library system, community center, senior programs, and much more. Clearly Farmington and Farmington Hills IS a Community of Interest. It appears that Farmington/Farmington Hills is split into 2-3 districts. This will make it very difficult for Farmington and Farmington Hills to get cohesive representation in the legislature.

Please reconsider this Senate District map. A SD in SW MI that will more appropriately recognize and represent the lakeshore communities of interest, and bring together our more diverse population especially for the African-American and Hispanic communities, is much more appropriate. I know you have several considerations, however I believe it is possible to create a SD that better represents our challenges and concerns.

Your maps unfairly benefit Republicans. Your job isn’t done until you fix that.

District 20 & 26 split Berrien County in half and combine North county with partial Van Buren, partial Allegan and partial Kent. This is gerrymandering at its finest, if you can't even have any whole counties. Berrien should not be split it is the 10th largest county in the state. This should be whole.

I feel that this map does not accurately and fairly represent the voters of Michigan, given that Michigan's population centers and voting majority are more likely to vote Democratic, and yet this is not reflected in the districting.

This map unfairly packs the Democrats. Partisan fairness is important.

Regarding the new State Senate District 24, I reside in the North East area of the City of Grand Rapids. I would prefer that District 24 consist of Cities and Townships situated within Kent County only, and not include any Ottawa County Townships. Most of my social connections, friends and my church community are centered in the east side of Kent County. I have many friends in Grand Rapids Township, East Grand Rapids, Kentwood as well as the City of Grand Rapids. My commercial activities, medical visits, shopping and entertainment is usually done in Grand Rapids (Eastown shops on Wealthy Street – Fulton Street Market), nearby East Grand Rapids (Gaslight Village – D&W Market), Cascade Township (Meijer on 28th Street). I would like to vote for a State Senator whose concerns are focused entirely on my Kent County community. As I understand the population threshold for State Senate Districts, Kent County has sufficient population to constitute two full State Senate Districts. There is no good reason to dilute the representation of Kent County in the Michigan Senate by including four rural Ottawa County Townships to State Senate District 24. Please reconfigure District 24 to make it an exclusively Kent County voters district. In doing so my suggestion is to add Cascade Township and the City of East Grand Rapids to the new State Senate District 24.

I live in Cascade Twp and it has nothing in common with the rural townships of Lowell, Caledonia, etc. Cascade Twp is part of the Forest Hills School District and Borders East Grand Rapids and Kentwood! It should be included in District 23 as it shares the same metropolitan interest (including Ford airport) as East Grand Rapids and Kentwood.

Correction to my previous comment in District 24, the natural dividing line between wards in Grand Rapids is Wealthy, not Fulton.

Correction to my previous comment, the dividing line for Grand Rapids would be best suited if it was Wealthy, not Fulton.

I work in Allendale township. These 4 Ottawa County townships are rural, including a 25K university population and do not belong in a community of interest with Metro Grand Rapids. Keep Ottawa Whole!

Cascade Township is very much part of Grand Rapids and should be associated with it, not with Battle Creek.

I would recommend removing W Bloomfield (from Pontiac Trail south) from this district and adding the remainder of Independence Township/Clarkston area which are more closely aligned to this district.

Cascade Township has nothing to do with Battle Creek. It is part of the Grand Rapids metro area. They shop in Kentwood/GR and house the Grand Rapids airport.

Cascade Township should be part of district 24. It is part of the Grand Rapids area.

Ottawa County is a very rural area and should not be included in the Grand Rapids Metro district.

This boundary between 23 & 24 should be Wealthy St, I'm not sure why it's currently on Fulton. Wealthy is a natural city boundary between the different COI's within Grand Rapids.

Cascade Township, including the airport, should be included with the Northern GR district - District 24.

Cascade really should be part of the northern Grand Rapids State Senate District 24 because it contains the airport that is so important to our metro area.

The second ward in Grand Rapids goes south to Fulton St. It would make sense to have the Senate map run to Fulton rather than Wealthy St.

Cascade should be part of the northern GR State Senate District 24 because it contains the airport that is so important to our metro area.

Hi there. Taking a look at the boundaries, Cascade town should should be Ada Township, not Ottawa.

Ottawa should be kept whole as it is a rural area and would not be well represented as it's interest would conflict with the Metropolitan Grand Rapids Area.

Cascade Twp should be part of District 24

Ottawa wants to be kept whole! Please listen to them.

Cascade Township and the GR airport are part of metro GR. They should be part of district 24 rather than district 3.

Cascade should be in District 24 with Forest Hills and Ada, those are a much more coherent community of interest than Cascade with the rest of its current district.

I work at GVSU in Ottawa county and the demographic is really different from Grand Rapids area. Keep Ottawa together away from Kent county.

I live in Cascade Twp near the airport. It is much more aligned to District 24 and East Grand Rapids. The GR Airport services the metropolitan Grand Rapids Area and should be included in District 24.

The district boundary should be on Weathy St to be consistent with Grand Rapids ward lines.

These portions of Ottawa County should not be tied to metro Grand Rapids. Keep Ottawa together.

I fail to see how we could call district 6 fair as these does not keep communities together. The needs to the district as it is draw here and too diverse. Same comment goes for district 7, you have a good portion of population of 3 different counties in one map. A poorly drawn map for sure.

Area north of Wealthy needs to be in District #24 - it is an established boundary.

This is a rural area - belongs with Ottawa Co.

Please note Farmington is surrounded by Farmington Hills and shares history, a school district, library system, community center and senior programs as well as social, sports and cultural activities. Clearly a COI. Further, Farmington hills appears to be split into at least 2 perhaps 3 districts. This will make it very difficult for our community to get representation in the legislature.

Farmington and Farmington Hills are one community that share history, a school district, library system, community center and senior programs, as well as social, sports and cultural activities. We are the very definition of a COI. Keep us together in one district.

Don't split the city of Burton. It is a community of interest that should be kept together. And it should not be put together with the different communities of interest in Lapeer County. Burton should remain with Clio and Davison.

the whole point of this commission is to get the districts to reflect the actual voter majority. there are more democratic voters than republican voters so some tiny town should not have a greater influence than large communities elsewhere. majority should rule not special interests.

I am not in favor of splitting Berrien County into two separate districts. Berrien has always been a representative county on its own; rural and urban, political affiliations, genders and races. Many of the lakeshore communities share similar issues that would best be handled by one official. Berrien County as a whole is home to major routes of transportation and infrastructure, again best suited to be represented by one official. This proposed redistricting would put my residence in one, with my work in another, all within a matter of 20 miles. I would like to see the existing map remain in place, which places Berrien, Cass, and St. Joseph counties as one. We are considered Michiana and should remain as such. Thank you.

Farmington and Farmington Hills should not be split! They share a common community which includes schools, libraries and shared resources. They musn't be split.

It was bad enough that Battle Creek and GR were put into the same congressional district ten years ago. To put Battle Creek and Cascade Township in the same State Senate district now would be even worse. Cascade is a charter township with a more suburban than rural feel (making it different than the rural areas in most of District 3). Cascade is also home of Gerald R. Ford International Airport, the regional airport serving Grand Rapids. It makes more sense to put Cascade in District 23. Within GR, I'd also suggest moving the border between 23 and 24 down to Wealthy Street and moving District 24 out of Ottawa County entirely.

Good job keeping Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti together. The fact is that they are a community of interest. Everyone knows that. Any claim to the contrary is only by activists trying to gerrymander.

This district is one of the only proposed districts which currently spans across three counties. The Commission has not properly considered the communities of interest in Novi. The 8 Mile Corridor between Oakland and Wayne Counties provides an easy natural boundary line to draw. Milford and Commerce should be added to District 11, and Washtenaw County should be completely removed. These areas do not have shared resources, services, or community interests.

Cascade township is part of the GR metro region, is a GR suburb, and has the GR airport. This area must be included with a State Senate district. Matches well with Ada. Thank you.

Please Ottawa away from Kent County. This area is much too rural to be a part of a Grand Rapids metro/Kent County Senate district.

Again, there is no excuse for breaking up a county into 3 districts!!!

Troy and Clawson are aligned and connected communities. Keep them together Oakland Twp and Troy/Rochester are not so aligned, so consider moving Oakland Twp out of district 16 and Clawson into district 16. You may need to move a little bit more of Sterling Heights into that district, so as to compensate for the population.

Please consider moving Milford and Commerce Township from district 18 into district 11. To compensate, you should move the part of Farmington Hills that's in district 11 to district 18. (Ideally all of Farmington Hills should be kept together, but I understand that may not be possible).

Milford and Commerce Township are more aligned with Novi and South Lyon, and less so with Farmington Hills, and even less so with Washtenaw County. So I would group Novi and South Lyon with Milford and at least some of Commerce Township, and not with Farmington Hills and Washtenaw County.

District 11 needs more work. Milford is sister a community to Novi and South Lyon and should be in District 11. Washtenaw county does not belong with Novi - please keep working on this.

District 11 needs more work. Milford is sister a community to Novi and South Lyon and should be in District 11. Washtenaw county does not belong with Novi - please keep working on this.

Please put Farmington and Farmington Hills together and don't split up Farmington Hills. We have a joint school board and library system, and many community activities. Farmington sits in the middle of Farmington Hills. As a former school board member, being in touch with multiple legislative representatives would be a challenge to representation.

This makes no sense to add to 9th district. There are few apts here but most would consider themselves to have community in Northville not in Livonia as the highway cuts off the area. The map should follow the course of the highway for 11 and 9th district

The city of Flint needs to have its own representative and not be split between House Districts. The City of Burton should also not be split between House Districts. Also, Genesee County should be lumped in with Lapeer and Saginaw County. Please reconsider the House districts that you have proposed for Genesee County.

District 11 (Novi, South Lyon, etc.) should include Milford and more of Commerce Township, but less of Farmington Hills and none of Washtenaw County. District 18 (West Bloomfield, Waterford, etc.) should include most of the part of Farmington Hills that you have with District 11, and it should drop Milford and most of Commerce Township into District 11. District 16 (Rochester Hills, Troy, western Sterling Heights) should keep Troy whole, include all of Clawson, include all of Sterling Heights west of Van Dyke, and should NOT include Oakland Township at all. Keeping Rochester Hills and Troy together is good.

The communities of Farmington and Farmington Hills share a lot and work together closely. Splitting them up does not make sense for the unity of communities of interest.

District 18 should include most of Farmington Hills that is currently with District 11 and should instead put Milford and the part of Commerce Township into District 11 instead. I live in West Bloomfield and spend considerable time in Farmington, more so than Milford or Commerce. Farmington and West Bloomfield are very connected.

Please keep my voting area in Novi.

This is the worst option for Districts 5 and 7, in my opinion. Algonac and Marine City do not belong with Grosse Pointe.

District #29 map places part of Calhoun and Hillsdale counties with Jackson county, which they have no community of interest with, nor any similar representative needs. District #29 should reflect Jackson county with western Ann Arbor and Scio Twp. added while removing Calhoun and Hillsdale counties.

This map is getting better, but if "communities of interest" are of chief importance, then there is still work to be done here. Novi has far more in common than the rural communities of Superior Twp and Washtenaw County. I also think it's unnecessary and overly complex to spread this district out across three very disparate counties - wayne, oakland and washtenaw. that seems excessive, please consider a more easterly extension of the map to include more "second ring" suburbs closely connected by school districts, infrastructre development zones and city and county boundry lines.

It appears that the districts are possibly more gerrymandered now than before the Voters not Politicians proposal was adopted. How did we get to this point? The redistricting committee was suppose to be in charge of taking partisan politics out of drawing district lines for redistricting. As of now, it has not happened.

Districts should be drawn to reflect the make-up of voters in the state. A state that leans Democratic should be able to elect a legislature that will represent its interests. A map that largely favors Republicans in a Democratic-leaning state is unacceptable.

Splitting the NorthEast corner three townships of Hillsdale County and tying to to a district separate from the rest of us disrupts county unity and creates diverse interests between neighbors. Urban district lines logically cross county lines, but rural counties should be kept intact.

Clinton Twp and Mt Clemens should be in the same district. Mount Clemens has nothing in common with the rural areas of northern Macomb County.

The City of Burton should not be split for Senate Districts and Lapeer county should not be included in a District with Northern Genesee County. The City of Burton is a community of interest that has never been split for the State Senate Districts. Burton, Davison, and Clio are not a community of interest with Lapeer County.

As a former Mayor of Farmington Hills, I worked closely with the City of Farmington for what was in the best interests of our citizens. Farmington and Farmington Hills have been in the same Senate District for the 38 years I have lived here. This map splits a very close knit community unnecessarily. Keep us together.

As a former Mayor of Farmington Hills, I worked closely with the City of Farmington for what was in the best interests of our citizens. Farmington and Farmington Hills have been in the same Senate District for the 38 years I have lived here. This map splits a very close knit community unnecessarily. Keep us together.

This Greater Lansing configuration breaks COIs and dilutes Republican voters. Biden only received 55% of the total vote among the 4 capital region counties, but these lines put everyone within those counties in senate districts he carried by wide margins. Please consider adjusting these two districts to better preserve the Lansing/East Lansing COI, reflect our region's political diversity, and creates at least one district that's on an even playing field for both parties.

In general this map is unfair and unbalanced regarding partisanship.

It is very simple - there are more Democrats than Republicans in Michigan, so at the end of the redistricting there must be more Democratic leaning districts than there are Republican leaning districts. The balance of our elected representatives must match the balance of the voters. If it is not done this way, then all of us voters know that the map has been Gerrymandered.

Placing Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti into one super packed district undermines communities of interest and partisan balance. Ann Arbor should be placed with the rest of northern Washtenaw and over towards Jackson. Chelsea and Dexter are clearly in communities of interest with Ann Arbor. Ypsilanti would have more say over its representation if the district goes south or southwest, rather than getting overwhelmed by larger Ann Arbor.

As a school board member, districts 6 and 8 cover too many communities, cities, school districts, and counties. These districts will make it very difficult for any state senator to get to know and represent well the school districts across all of these borders.

There are so many Democrats crammed into this one district that it's not a fairly-drawn map.

Again, why are we districting with Lenawee County? About 50% of Monroe’s residents work in Detroit, Toledo, Downriver, and Ann Arbor while about 8% work in Lenawee. We have much more in common with Downriver and Washtenaw County because of our transportation routes.

District 27 still looks pretty packed. Please try this one again.

There is no reason to split this district up this way. Warren should be in Macomb County along with other cities in Macomb County, not this sectioning of three different counties. There would be no area in this district that would receive fair representation.

The green dot right next to this comment is also mine. It was supposed to be a red dot. Please, at this point, do not mistake anyone in the greater Farmington community to have given positive feedback on what the commission has done to divide our community and combine it with places with dissimilar interests.

I worked on helping to pass the Prop 2 initiative. The goal was to make sure all voice were heard in voting and I am not sure that the way the proposed lines are being drawn that the is the case.

The rural areas are getting far more representation than the more urban areas. Please make this fair.

Please don't redistrict and split up the Indian American community. You are taking away our political power.

Don't divide Novi. It needs to be kept together. With a strong Asian community, we keep the same interest to work towards the common goal to keep our community safe and strong.

All Novi needs to stay together under Oakland county. We don't want to be divided because of any political reason. DONT Re-District!!!!!! Period!!!!

I agree with Laura. I do think there is a way for Dexter and Chelsea to be combined with Jackson and cut around the southern portion of this Dexter-Chelsea-Jackson district. If to make it more politically-balanced you need to include some of the areas of north of Dexter, Chelsea, and Ann Arbor, that's reasonable. But Jackson does not need to be swallowed in "Red" yet again!!!

I live in Ypsilanti and don't want my vote to be lumped into Ann Arbor's. Ypsi is distinct from Ann Arbor in place and people and deserves to be unpacked. Wasn't the point of remapping to eliminate any partisan bias? 6% partisan bias is still too much. I support the AFL-CIO maps for partisan fairness.

Under the proposed plan Novi, which is in Oakland County, is being combined with communities in Wayne County and what I think is a rural part of Washtenaw County where the AAPI community in this area have no mutual communities of interest.

I'm trying to understand the unifying factors that comprise State Senate District 6. Boundaries from Grosse Pointe in Wayne County to 20 Mile in Macomb County encompasses vastly different communities with different concerns and needs. The community would be better served by more compact district.

I'm concerned about State Senate District 8 spanning the 3 most densly populated counties in Michigan. I don't believe my community will have adequate representation with my state senator dividing there attention between 3 county governments.

I spent much of the fall of 2018 knocking on 400 doors and giving several presentations on how gerrymandering works so that we could have a Michigan legislature that fully reflects the balance in the state population. The current map, favoring Republicans by 6.5% while the state voting trends show Democrats in the majority, is not what I wanted from the work I did during the 2018 campaign. Try again. Yes, I know time is short. But we have to live with this for ten years.

I recognize the MANY hours of work that went into this map. However, there are 0 proposed districts with a minority majority over 50% (compared to 5 today). It feels like the commission is "watering down" non-white votes by lumping the (mainly democratic) areas containing high numbers of people of color with rural areas that are highly republican and white. Please fix this.

I live and work in Ann Arbor so I can only give the context for the area that I know. As the map currently stands, I am concerned that my senate vote as an Arborite would drown out the voices of Ypsilanti and deny them a degree of self-determination. Any election would be decided by the Ann Arbor consensus no matter what the majority of Ypsilantians decided. I would like to see Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti split into different districts to prevent this. I think Ann Arbor is more similar to Chelsea, Scio and Dexter.

The purpose of the commission is to create districts that are not biased in either direction politically, and best represent the Michigan people. Why then, is this map 6.5% biased towards republican performance, and the house map 10% biased towards republican performance? There have been maps presented to the commission that achieve near 0% party bias (such as the Michigan AFLCIO fair maps project among others), so this is clearly possible and practical. We all deserve unbiased maps that give us the most representative government.

This map still contains an unacceptable partisan bias towards Republicans. In line with the goal of fairness, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti should not be packed into one district. Please split the two cities, and look at maps such as the one created by the AFLCIO Fair Maps Project that have been able to get the partisan bias close to 0%.

For years, Ypsilanti has been in the same district as Ann Arbor and hence has been drowned out by the overwhelming population of Ann Arbor. Ypsilanti deserves to anchor its own representative and voice in the State just like Ann Arbor so it should be split into a separate district.

Please unpack Ann Arbor. Especially, make Ypsilanti its own district. This would support Ypsilanti in developing an independent voice, and would help adjust for political bias in the state. The specific interests of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti vary in many ways, and it is more reasonable to have them separated.

Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor are distinctly different communities with distinctly different needs, priorities and populations. The people of Ypsilanti need to have their own voice heard and not swallowed up the very different voices coming from Ann Arbor. Their are maps (AFLCIO) that are much less partisan than the map here. So, if you're wanting to get as close to 0% bias, then please consider separately Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor along with any other changes that result in a more evenly designed map. Thanks.

Please split Ypsilanti from Ann Arbor to ensure we have our own voice in state politics and ensure an unbiased map. The currently-proposed senate map has an unacceptable and anti-democratic partisan bias favoring the republican party.

Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor should be split, ypsilanti deserves it's own voice and this unfairly packs democratic voters

Please unpack this area! Ypsilanti deserves its own Senate District!

Please unpack Ann Arbor! Pittsfield, Saline and Lodi need to be moved off toward Jackson. To have fair representation at the Senate level, Ann Arbor needs to be split into more than one district and Ypsilanti would be better served with it's own Senate District. Thank you.

Please unpack this area to make it more fair. As it currently stands it is not equally distributed. Thank you for your consideration.

Represent Citizens not your own interests! Current analysis suggests that the proposed State House and Senate districts favor Republicans by 6.5%. Despite a Democratic majority, there are a proposed 18 D seats to 20 R seats, 7 D districts vs. 5 R districts are packed, and there are 0 proposed districts with a minority majority over 50% (compared to 5 today). Despite being well-intentioned, the independent commission will not inherently lead to the creation of a fair map. Partisan fairness is more important than following city/county lines and making compact districts. Funny shapes are okay - what's NOT okay is a system that doesn't adequately represent the people.

We need absolute fairness. Michigan has had the worst gerrymandering of districts in the country, and it doesn't appear that your current distribution will give all Michigan voters an equal voice. Please fix this!

The redistricting should reflect the citizens not your political party. Why do we need to redistrict now it seems to be working. You do it cause you don’t like the results of the past election results.

By combining Oakland County with Detroit and other parts of Wayne, and in some places Macomb, as well as combining Macomb in some places with Detroit makes no sense in a State Senate district. First of all, this map could very possibly mean no representation for Detroit, which would be horrible. District 13 would be better if it did not include Detroit, but did include Hazel Park and Madison Heights, which belong with Oakland, not Macomb. The Detroit districts look very gerrymandered. Detroit deserves to be represented by Detroiters. Alternatively, this district could extend west into Southfield in some way, as well as including Madison Heights and Hazel Park. If that was done, then the northern part of the district could go to District 14. The main point is that it should not include Detroit and should be all Oakland County. This also splits the Jewish community in the Southfield/Oak Park/Huntington Woods area, which is a community of interest.

Redistricting should BETTER reflect the citizens of this state and their political preferences. When a state that has a majority of citizens who vote for Democrats is districted so that Republicans get greater representation, then justice and democracy are not being served.

These maps once again cut up the northend. The Northend has a long tradition and is really important neighborhood in Detroit. tons of organizations have funded this area and it should all be drawn into one district. The Northend stretches west of Hamtramck to Woodward between i-94 and The Southern border of Highland Park. There is no way this district should go to Taylor. The Eastside of Detroit should have two districts of its own, like it does today.

Represent Citizens not your own interests! Current analysis suggests that the proposed State House and Senate districts favor Republicans by 6.5%. Despite a Democratic majority, there are a proposed 18 D seats to 20 R seats, 7 D districts vs. 5 R districts are packed, and there are 0 proposed districts with a minority majority over 50% (compared to 5 today). Despite being well-intentioned, the independent commission will not inherently lead to the creation of a fair map. Partisan fairness is more important than following city/county lines and making compact districts. Funny shapes are okay - what's NOT okay is a system that doesn't adequately represent the people.

This map seems to be more partisan than when it was drawn by Republican Governor Engler. Partisan districting is not acceptable. You are doing very important work. Do a better job at measuring and evaluating fairness.

Splitting Oakland up into Wayne and Macomb hurts one the most economically contributing counties of Michigan. Wayne and Detroit deserves to have dedicated respresentative as does Oakland and Wayne needs their integrity. The South Oakland inner suburbs should be grouped together: they are economically and security tied together, share the same infrastructure problems, and have similer community of interests. These COIs are ignored by including significant parts of Detroit/Wayne and spreading over to Macomb.

I have lived in Clinton Twp. for 32 yrs. During that time I witnessed Macomb Cty being gerrymandered into a Republican dominated area. The map needs to be re-drawn to be non partisan and not to favor one party over another, that is the purpose of this commission. The majority of our state voted blue and our state districts need to be more in line with the reality of people's choices.

If the purpose of the independent commission to create partisan fairness across the state is to be achieved, it is essential that Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti areas be split. As it is, we have just 1 senate seat to represent us. All the democrats are packed into one district. This is not partisan fairness.

Doesn't make sense to have Farmington & Farmington Hills in different districts

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti need to be separated!

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti should be in separate districts.

The whole point of this is to have a map that is representative, not biased. You've got to get this right. I appreciate all of your hard work and hope you continue working so that Michigan residents are fairly represented.

Farmington and Farmington Hills should obviously be in the same district. Too many interests in common to separate politically.

Current analysis suggests that the proposed State House and Senate districts favor Republicans by 6.5%. Despite a **Democratic majority**, there are a proposed 18 D seats to 20 R seats, 7 D districts vs. 5 R districts are packed, and there are 0 proposed districts with a minority majority over 50% (compared to 5 today). Despite being well-intentioned, what's NOT okay is a system that doesn't adequately represent the people. Close enough isn't good enough as these district lines will control what happens in Michigan for the next 10 years. Partisan fairness must be measured and evaluated every step of the way. Thank you for your work. I hope you're strive to do better.

Make all of the voting districts non-partisan. That was the point of this whole process. Get it right before getting it done.

As a resident of this district, I will have to agree with both other comments made about it here. This area of Kent County is much more linked to GR and its surrounding suburbs than the southern counties which it is drawn in with. While I understand the need to meet quotas on population distribution, the Cascade area at the least should be included in a district like the current 24th. While some adjustments would need to be made with surrounding districts, I believe this would still produce a more equitable and contiguous result overall than the map as currently drawn. Thank you.

I appreciate the hard work the first ever independent redistricting commission is doing to create fairness in our political system. However, this current map does not seem like it creating fairness. It appears that the Metro Detroit area suburbs are cracking pieces of Detroit out, which will end up limiting these constituents political power. many of these suburbs also do not have common interests with the parts of Detroit they are taking from. Also. Oakland County is cracked up into 9 different districts, only 1 of which remains entirely in the county. This needs to be changed. 1 improvement would be to Madison Heights and Hazel Park in Oakland Co. and put the rest of Sterling Heights back in Warren Co. This map seems to unnecessarily break up COI's.

Splitting up lots of SE Michigan cities that have cohesive identities (and voting concerns) - makes no sense! I see that you tried to have lily white Livonia have more POC by including neighboring communities (and since Plymouth still comes out very white!), but I don't know how that helps represent voters. Everyone on the political spectrum deserves to have their concerns heard (hearts and minds can be changed other ways).

In District 13, you have drawn the district so the majority of voters are WHITE! Yet you are including districts in Detroit, where 92% of Detroit is Black. Once again, how dare you draw this blatantly racist map?! you people need an education in segregation and what's really wrong with Detroit and the suburbs. INTEGRATE before you divide us forever. These districts are cause for an uprising and sincere protest.

I am absolutely appalled that Ferndale is now going to start weighing in on politics in Detroit, a city that is 92% Black. How many Black people live in Ferndale? And how many Black people live in Pleasant Ridge? Berkley? Next to none. Don't you dare draw these lines. Integrate the city first. You have no business pitting Black and White voters against each other. This is the same mentality that got America here in the first place. This crap about divide and conquer. How dare you!

The manner is which this map is drawn for District 8 provides minimum representation for the communities involved. There is no shared interest with Clawson, Madison Heights to be connected with the eastern section of Detroit.

Ypsilanti should be it's own district to ensure equal representation for minority communities.

1. I appreciate the important work the commission is doing. 2. We need maps that show partisan fairness, which the proposed Congressional District 6 for Troy does not. Troy does not have common demographics or county government with the communities east of us. 3. This map isolates Troy from communities of interest. Our fellow communities of interest are to the south and west of us. We more commonly share governmental services and recreational and entertainment venues with the communities stretching to the south and/or west of Troy in Oakland County than the parts of Macomb County the proposed map puts Troy with. 4. I strongly support the state maps produced by the Michigan AFL-CIO Fair Maps Project. They are very well-researched, and fair in all 7 criteria for both state House and state Senate districts. Please adopt them. 5. Thank you for your efforts to create fair and independent maps for the next decade.

I want to thank the commission for your hard and very important work. I realize how difficult a task this is. Nevertheless, I strongly disapprove of the current MI Senate map. If a House district represents a reasonable community of interest, then why fracture a House district in drawing a Senate district, as you have done here? District 16 would preserve a more coherent community of interest if it included Clawson and stretched more to the west than the north. Clawson/Troy has much more in common with Birmingham and Beverly Hills, for example, than with Oakland Township.

My previous comment had a typo/error in it. I apologize. The first sentence of my comment should have read: Looking at this Senate map, I am concerned about how far North the Troy district extends. This correction makes the rest of my statement about the district being more representative and fair if it were to be extended south (instead of so far north) more accurate and consistent.

18 D Seats to 20 R Seats with a Democratic Majority! Do Better!

Commissioners, I appreciate the progress you've made so far on this very difficult initiative. Please continue your work to provide a truly level playing field for future candidates all across Michigan. For example, the proposed District 29 map groups Chelsea and Dexter with the predominantly conservative Jackson County to our west, but the makeup of our communities is much more of a blend of liberal and conservative. The map as drawn does not reflect that diversity of viewpoints. A more balanced map is especially important to give my loved ones and neighbors in the LBGTQ community a fair shot at having their concerns heard.

Why is the Clarkston community being split in half? A large portion of Springfield Township is Clarkston mailing and Clarkston schools yet we are not included in the same Senate district as Independence Township where our interests are most similar. In addition the characteristics of our area and that of Independence Township are more aligned with Waterford and Bloomfield Township and should all be included in the same district not the more rural areas we are currently lumped in together.

Farmington sits inside Farm. Hls.' borders. We share a school district and many community events and councils. We should be in the same district and not with Scio Twp. That makes no sense.

There should not be a 6% partisan bias in any map. That is gerrymandering. Furthermore, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti should not be lumped into one district. That metro area should be split into multiple districts.

Looking at this Senate map, I am concerned about how far East the Troy district extends. Given the shopping, business, and daily activities of this area, it would be more appropriate--and would address serious issues of partisan bias and fairness--to extend District 16 further south, adjusting the Birmingham District to bring it into the Troy district. This district appears to be stretched in the wrong direction if the purpose is to reflect communities that live, work, and play together.

Chesterfield doesn't belong out in the sticks with Marine City and Algonac. Chesterfield should be with Clinton Township and Mt. Clemens. We are just another suburb of Detroit now, and no longer a farming community in any way.

Together, Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti make up most of Washtenaw County. From west to east, as well as from urban cores to rural peripheries, Washtenaw County is significantly diverse. I have lived/ worked/ volunteered in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti for a combined total of 6 years. I strongly advise against tying Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti into one district. The differences between each are not recognized often enough. These differences are somewhat congruous with COVID-19 hospitalization data. Zip codes such as 48197 are a stark contrast to others like 48105. The residents of these areas deserve to be recognized , as well as to self govern, per their unique identities. Differences between these zip codes are sometimes black and white (literally but also figuratively). They include but are not limited to income, ownership of assets such as land, work industry, family household size, and political values. For better guidance, I prefer the AFL-CIO's fair maps. Thank you for your hard, important work.

We have a very tight knit community between Farmington and Farmington Hills. We work together on so many issues and share common school districts, library system and so much more. Splitting the city of Farmington Hills apart also makes no sense - we need a single representative for our whole community.

Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti should be in two separate districts. We are packing black and minority votes in a single district. Even though Ypsilanti is a major urban area, it has not been given its own senate district, and that needs to change.

These maps are partisan. Keep Novi together, this completely eliminates the power of the Asian vote. These maps are drawn intentionally to unfairly favor the republican vote. These maps need to be re-done. Why is Novi in a Senate district with Frain Lake and Superior Township in Washtenaw County?

I don't think there was ANY comment in favor of putting Calhoun and Jackson together at the Jackson public hearing or since. Not sure why this is here. Certainly Marshall and rural Calhoun belong with Battle Creek. I could see keeping Albion with Jackson but that's it.

There is no reason to split Hillsdale County - all of it should be in District 26.

I object strenuously to the way Senate District 34 lines are drawn. The configuration doesn't respond to our main complaint, which was that very rural areas shouldn't be lumped with the more urban area of Muskegon. The map you drew is very similar to the one that exists, where two very rural counties were lumped with Muskegon's more urban environment. We want a map which lumps the more urban Lakeshore communities together stretching from Holland north through Muskegon and eliminating the eastern half of those counties, which is very rural.

This map is very unfair to my city. We are torn apart. How very confusing for people to be able to work for us. Does part of our city get funding and the other not? Etc. please go back to drawing board and keep communities together!

Unfair districting cannot be tolerated! Fix these unfair maps now!

Fair districts help both parties by eliminating the election of extremists in ‘safe’ districts. We ask for what VNP organized around, the end of districts drawn to favor one political party. From here on out, this commission must map with partisan data in front of them. To achieve fair maps, they need to be aware of partisanship and adjust the district lines accordingly. The commission has created plans for the state House, state Senate, and Congress that favor Republicans, with state house and state senate heavily favoring Republicans. Voters across Michigan passed Prop 2 because we wanted new fair maps that reflect the will of Michigan voters. In their current form, these maps do not meet the standard of fair maps. We want the commission to measure partisan fairness and adjust their maps as close to zero political bias as possible. We want the statewide map to reflect the partisan balance of Michigan as a whole. The commission must prioritize partisan fairness when mapping. The MI Constitution requires the commission to draw districts with as close to zero political bias as possible. They have other requirements too, but we can have maps that comply with the MI Constitution. We want to see commissioners mapping with partisan data in front of them so they can evaluate partisan fairness throughout this process. We need fair districts across the state, so we elect the best possible candidates.

Farmington Hills should not be split up. There is a close COI with Farmington City. All of FH should be in HD 9.

I agree with Noah Arbit and Judah Karesh re the placement of West Bloomfield, joining it in a more dominant Republican area notwithstanding that West Bloomfield is an increasingly Democratic stronghold, yet those votes will continue to be wasted in the Senate seat as drawn, notwithstanding this huge change in demographics over the last decade. WB simply has no COI with any other part of the District as drawn. It should be joined with SD 14 or with SD 9 along with Farmington Hills as well.

I spend a lot of time shopping and eating in both Farmington and Farmington hills - these are both in Oakland county and I believe have a common COI economically - it makes no sense to split these communities.

This make ZERO sense for Novi. This map combines Novi with 2 other communities in 2 other counties. We are COI within Oakland county.

Berrien County should be kept whole and included with Cass and St. Joseph Counties. EVERYONE down here identifies as living in "Michiana" and we all get our TV news from south bend. Please keep all of Berrien County together!

The point was to have an unbiased map. There should not be a republican advantage.

Ann Arbor and ypsilanti should be separate districts. Ypsilanti has different demographics and needs the opportunity to elect leaders who will listen to the specific needs of the area.

I am very disappointed to see the current maps for the Novi area Senate district. This district covers 3 counties, and combines many areas which have no connection to one another. Simply put, rural Washtenaw county has nothing in common with suburban Oakland County. Even worse, the map provides a clear advantage to Republicans despite the increasing concentration of Democratic voters in Oakland County. Adding Novi to these areas would also drastically silence the voice of our area's growing concentration of Asian residents and voters. There are few other areas in which the interests of this community are able to be represented effectively. Further, this district would divide historically connected communities of Farmington and Farmington Hills. On paper may seem like a good decision, but in reality, it actually separates the interests of the community in a way which is unnecessary. These communities have long been combined because of the close partnership with one another and shared resources and history.

Grand Rapids, Kentwood, and East Grand Rapids should be a senate district. Why is Grand Rapids being split?

My concerns are related to the fact that the maps as currently drawn favor Republicans over Democrats when in fact Democrats outnumber Republicans in Michigan. The entire intent of this was to draw fair maps that don't advantage one party over the other, and so far you have failed in that core mission. We need fair maps!

Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor are separate districts with critical demographic and character differences, and therefor should be drawn differently. Ann Arbor is much more conservative than Ypsilanti and Ypsilanti Township. Ypsi and Ypsi Twp should be a combined separate district.

As a resident of Orion Twp, I am appalled at the Senate District I have been drawn into. We are more of an exurb area than the areas we have been lumped with. Why are we combining counties when the necessity is not there. Also, as someone who worked countless hours for the opportunity to form this non partisan Commission, I am dismayed to view a map that favors Republicans by as much as 6.5% in some cases. This much advantage for a party that is actually in the minority is unacceptable

Replace Sterling Heights with Madison Heights and Hazel Park in the Senate map. Pontiac and Waterford should be kept together, as they are similar communities which are part of the M-59 corridor. Likewise, Rochester and Rochester Hills are similar communities and also part of the M-59 corridor; keep those two cities together in the same district as well. Troy should be kept completely within Oakland County and kept whole in all maps to protect the growing Asian-American/Pacific Islander community. Farmington Hills and Novi are similar communities (part of the 696 corridor) and should be kept within the same district. Ann arbor and Ypsilanti, however, should be split into two districts. These suggestions are based on the criterion of communities of interest, which is one of the more important ones for redrawing district lines.

The brown area of the map that includes both Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti is a very densely populated area with very diverse population creating a more bias region. This area needs to be restructured separating these two major metropolitan areas making it less partisan in nature making for a more fair voting map. Thank you for the work you have already done. I hope you will take my suggestions under consideration and make adjustments accordingly.

I am concerned that Oakland County senate districts delving south of 8 mile will dilute black voices and representation. As an elected person myself, I know how tempting it is to draw all your attention to better resourced (and often times more vocal) parts of a district. When adding in the component of race, I worry that black detroiter's will not be heard the same amount as their less structurally disadvantaged white, suburban voters. Also--looking at campaign finance filings it is clear that elections in Detroit are less costly to run than in Oakland County...This could lead to Detroit candidates not being viable simply because of their donor base. Thus re-affirming structural inequities. Seeing as how metro-Detroit is so segregated, this would likely fall on racial lines and act as a de facto candidate viability suppressant. -Charlie

This map MUST be made nonpartisan. Michigan voted on prop 2 because we are sick and tired of partisan political maps. There is no reason to make partisan maps - it doesn’t represent MIchigan.

I want to express my concern about your proposed state Senate map. My understanding is that it skews Republican by 6.5%, by the Commission's internal measurements. I happen to be a Democrat, but that really doesn't matter in this discussion - what I want is for a fair distribution of voters in districts, so that the legislative body (the Senate in this case) ends up with a majority accurately reflecting the majority of voters in the state. The very nature of gerrymandering is that the reverse is obtained - by shoehorning Democrats into a few districts, Republicans can get a majority, even though there are demonstrably more Democrats than Republicans in this state. I know a lot of your respondents are laser-focused on preserving Communities of Interest (and in fact COIs are one of your constitutional criteria). Some people are interpreting a COI to be a geographic area, and that may be true, but sometimes a geographic area has to be divided so as to satisfy another constitutional requirement, not to favor one political party over another. The decision to interpret metropolitan areas as COIs will pack Democratic votes into the more densely populated areas, because that's where a lot of Democrats live. Splitting up some of the cities fixes that problem easily. I refer you to the Senate and House maps produced by the AFL-CIO (here: https://miaflcio.org/fairmaps/) which solve these problems Thank you for your efforts on the Commission, and please consider revising your Senate map for a more fair distribution of votes.

Please split Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor in your Senate Map. These 2 communities are CLEARLY different Communities of Interest. They are worlds apart in economics, diversity and in landscape. They need 2 separate Senate Representatives.

Thank you for your work on the commission! Although I appreciate your efforts, I'm Very disappointed to see that my district (and many of my 1204 members district) is drawn in a very partisan way. I thought the purpose of this commission was to ensure fair voting maps were drawn. This seems to be opposite of that. Please continue to work this map until it's fair. Thank you.

I do not think the proposed District 34 Map works for the following reasons. Muskegon County makes up over 50% of the population and yet has very little in common with the rural counties to the north. While they have small tourist towns like Pentwater and Ludington, these towns virtually shut down in the winter. The rest of these counties are rural and Republican. Muskegon County is unique in that it is the ONLY community along the lakeshore that is diverse both racially and economically. All of our countywide elected offices are held by Democrats and our county went for Biden despite a strong Trump effect on the eastern side of the county. Geographically, this district would span a distance of 125 miles, making it difficult for a person to run and serve such a large area. I support a lakeshore district made up of Muskegon County and the Western part of Ottawa County down to Holland. Spring Lake, Ferrysburg, Grand Haven and Holland is where we work and recreate. Unlike the 100+ mile stretch up to Frankfort, I can be in Holland in 20 minutes. The people of Michigan approved Proposal 2 in the hope that we would have fair and competitive districts instead of gerrymandered ones where the winner is decided by the smallest number of voters in a primary. Competing visions and policies help to educate the voter to make the most informed choice. Please follow the mandate you were given and draw a district where the people of Muskegon County will finally feel like they are represented in Lansing. Thank you.

It is important to make this map non-partisan. That was your charge. Having a map that isn't balanced, doesn't promote a good faith effort, as you were all directed to do to correct our gerrymandered communities to begin with.

This map is too big and puts Muskegon County at a disadvantage. We represent more than 50% of the population and lean Democratic. All of our countywide elected offices are filled by Democrats and our county went for Biden despite a strong Trump influence from the rural eastern part of the county. Muskegon is unique in that it is the only diverse community both racially and economically, along the entire lakeshore. By grouping it in with sparsely populated rural counties whose tourist towns close down for the winter, you have created a a district where we have little in common. I support a lakeshore district that would include Muskegon County and the Western side of Ottawa County including Holland. Spring Lake, Ferrysburg, Grand Haven and Holland are where we work and recreate and this would create a more fair and competitive compact district. It would be hard for a senator to adequately represent a district that spans four counties (over 125 miles). I can drive to Holland from Muske The people of Michigan voted for Proposal 2 to ensure fair and competitive districts. I want to live in a district where I can be adequately represented in Lansing and the current map as proposed does not meet that test.

This map is unacceptable. A 6% bias toward one party does not meet the constitutional requirement of a fair non-partisan map. Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti must be unpacked, with western Ann Arbor and Scio Township paired with Jackson.

The map as currently drawn is not acceptable. The commission should strive for a completely unbiased map, whereas this one has a Republican bias. One way this could be better drawn is to separate Ann Arbor from Ypsilanti, since both have different interests and Ypsilanti has been overshadowed by Ann Arbor for far too long. The map should also be redrawn to unpack Ann Arbor-area voters into surrounding districts to make sure things are more balanced.

Please keep Allegan and Van Buren counties together and whole—Antwerp Township does not belong with Kalamazoo!! We do not live in Kalamazoo for a reason - we are different!! As a suggestion, perhaps consider adding the Barry county townships around Gull Lake to Kalamazoo County. The Gull Lake community makes more sense than pushing Antwerp and Kalamazoo together. Paw Paw, Plainwell, Otsego, Mattawan & Lawton (Both in Antwerp Township!), are small town communities with common sense values, similar economies, rural areas that share many strengths and challenges. Allegan and Van Buren counties collaborate on providing public defender services and veteran treatment courts to our residents. Both Allegan and Van Buren rely heavily on tourism and have strong agriculture communities and histories. This map breaks up the voice of Van Buren and Allegan county residents which result in a lack of cohesive representation in our state legislature. I strongly encourage you to keep Van Buren and Allegan counties together in the Senate like you have in Congressional maps!

This is gerrymandered to favor Republicans, who are the minority in Michigan but continue to foist their unpopular and dysfunctional policies upon all of us. This cannot stand. Every voice matters, every vote should be counted, and their firehose of lies needs to be shut off once and for all.

The latest 10/04/21 State of Michigan Senatorial Map or Plan seems to favor the GOP who are projected as winners in the plan by 6.5% more of the districts while in the State of Michigan in the last election votes for Dems leaned toward 6.5% in favor of Dems. This is a difference of 13% from reality. The Senate seems to be packed or stacked. This is not fairness or competitiveness and is an absolute, disproportionate, disadvantage for Dems. The plan needs to be corrected. The outcome has been “corrupted” by using the phrase “communities of interest.” It is used by the GOP as their code phrase for packing a few voting districts with a large number of Dems. Doing this, Dems win by a very high percent in a few districts while the GOP spreads is votes and wins by a smaller margin over many districts. This is not fair or competitive and is human data corruption. From the 2020 Census, there will be 38 State of Michigan Senatorial Districts for the next 10 years when approved. In the current state plan, many districts are shaped like ribbons particularly in the Detroit area and seem to run along party lines. They appear packed or gerrymandered. The GOP seems to use the “communities of interest” phrase to primarily mean “rural verses urban/suburban” districts. Since rural areas vote overwhelmingly GOP and urban/suburban areas vote much more Dem, these words in practice are not used as terms of communities of interest but as a political code phrase for GOP and Dem, respectively. Rural verse urban/suburban should not be wholly used to make vital determinations for the State of Michigan Senatorial Districts. The effect is that Republican win total districts by 6.5% by concentrating or packing the Dem vote, often the urban/suburban vote, into a few districts. As an example, suppose over the next ten years, Dems may win a few districts by 20% while the GOP may win many more districts only by 10%. Doing that, the GOP comes out way ahead though it may have lost the popular statewide vote. As an example, if we have 38,00 voters and 38 Districts there is on average 1,000 voters per district. A district will be made up of 1,000 voters. If there are 19,000 people voting Dems and 19,000 voting GOP in this hypothetical State of Michigan, there would be a tie between Dems and the GOP with 50% of the votes going to each and 19 Districts going to each. If you apportion or create 14 Dems Districts that win by 20%, that would be 8,400 votes for the Dems and 5,600 votes for the GOP. By a large margin, the Dems win all 14 districts. If the remainder or 24 Districts were won by the GOP by 10% of the vote, the numbers would be 13,200 votes for the GOP and 10,800 votes for the Dems. The GOP would win all the remaining Senate Districts or a total of 24 districts. The total vote would be 8,400 + 10,800 ]Dem] + 5,600 + 13,200 [GOP] = 38,000! The Dems would have won the popular vote by 19,200 to 18,800 or by 400 votes or 1% of the votes but would have lost the the Districts by a 14 to 24 margin or by 26%. The Dems would have won 10 districts, and the GOP would have won 28 districts even thought the statewide vote is a tie. That is packing and gerrymandering. To say that his is fair would be a lie. Packing is supported by the corruption of the term “communities of interest.” “Communities of interest” is a phrase that the GOP uses as a code they can use to pack or gerrymander. That is how a minority rules over a majority . . . it uses smoke and mirrors and a lie. The commissioners seem to be packing Dem districts and spreading GOP districts. The vote needs to be competitive and fair . . .. The current proposed State of Michigan Senate Plan is a form of gerrymandering on a grand scale using threads or strips of voters to concentrate the Dem vote in a few districts and spread the GOP vote over many districts.

Fully agree with Noah here. West Bloomfield is a diverse, suburban community with little to do with Independence, Highland, or Milford. Additionally, this is a crack of Democratic voters in West Bloomfield that is harsher than the current Republican gerrymander, and as such it significantly contributes to the map's Republican bias.

Van Buren and Allegan should be kept whole and together for the Senate as a community of interest. They share many functions of government as well as a large Hispanic population. Both are rural, agriculture and tourism based economies with many similar small towns through the counties. Aside from being a community of interest, together, they fit nicely as about 2/3 of a Senate district and could take in other parts of similar rural or coastal counties. Holland would be a good fit, Barry County would be another. Van Buren and Allegan have much more in common with each other than they do with the "Michiana" border counties.

I find it extremely important that Van Buren and Allegan Counties remain together in the same senatorial district. Our 2 counties are so similar in so many ways-rural, agricultural, small towns and the life styles that go with all of that. I find it very important that we be represented by a person that understands our strengths, weaknesses, needs and desires.

Breaking up Farmington Hills into 2 Senate districts is DUMB! Keep Farmington and ALL of Farmington Hills together. That is a community that has a strong history and needs to be kept together.

It's important to keep Livonia together as a single district. It is very clearly a community of interest and should be treated as such. Splitting up the city into multiple districts will only serve to confuse and discourage voters, limiting their participation in our democracy. Keep Livonia together.

You've drawn Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids together, Portage and Kalamazoo, St. Joe and Benton Harbor, Battle Creek and Springfield, etc. Throughout the state you've drawn municipalities with shared needs and interest together. Lansing and East Lansing should be kept the same.

Separating Lansing and East Lansing is ridiculous. They share public transit, public health departments, economic development/footprints, they are one community. If you traveled from West Lansing through Lansing and into East Lansing on M-43 (Grand River Ave) you wouldn't be able to tell which municipality you are in. The school districts overlap. If you included just the zip codes for Lansing and East Lansing it makes almost exactly one Senate district. We don't travel to Charlotte, St. Johns or Owosso unless we want to pretend to be rural and wear flannel for a day.

Please reference the AFL-CIO Fair Maps Project maps & data. Ann Arbor & Ypsilanti should be separate districts.

This map is not worthy of the effort put forward by the legion of volunteers who petitioned to ensure fairly drawn electoral maps. The partisan advantage is obvious, especially near Ann Arbor. These partisan slights, which we citizens worked hard to have a chance to overcome, must not be permitted in the final boundaries.

I am one of many people who went out collecting signatures all day, every day, to make sure you got the right to do what you're doing now. It was arduous. Worth it, though, if the new maps are exemplary. Oakland county isn't quite right, having only one fully-contiguous state senate seat, and not even even one fully-contiguous congressional seat. Certainly that must be fixed. You've undoubtedly heard that "close" is only good in horseshoes, hand grenades, and shaves. Getting these maps this far is a good thing. But you must eliminate the current state of minority rule. 6% would be an early Christmas present. If the maps are representative of the will of the people, not politicians, you will be lauded as the best at getting this done properly.

I find that the through Auburn Hills (cutting it in half) to link Bloomfield Hills and Lake Orion/Oakland Township is very gerrymandered. Auburn Hills is a very different demographic than Lake Orion/Oakland Township and the needs of the community are different. It is very clear this is intentional to link more "red" areas. All of Auburn Hills should be together with more similar communities in Rochester Hills, Bloomfield Hills and Pontiac.

I ask you to draw fair districts. This map clearly favors Republicans. Fair districts help both parties by eliminating the election of extremists in ‘safe’ districts. Michigan has seen extremists after 10 years of gerrymandering. Stop they cycle now, draw fair districts.

The results of your efforts so far are a huge disappointment to the people of this state who have been disenfranchised through unfair representation for years and hoped this commission would fix it. These maps favor Republicans by 6-6.5% and that is 106-106.5% unacceptable. They must be drawn without bias to prevent political minority rule from continuing to shackle this state to the dark ages. In District 28, the Washtenaw section of the City of Milan is going actually backward. This section has more in common with Ann Arbor than the Lenawee/Monroe County areas it would be lumped in with on this map. This needs to be addressed. We have to live with this for ten years and if the maps aren't fair, we may not even have a democracy to vote in by 2031.

I live in District 13. I'm not understanding how this district has been drawn. Drawing the inner ring suburbs of Oak Park, Royal Oak Township, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Royal Oak, Berkley, even Birmingham makes sense and could be described as a community of interest. Instead of drawing it down into Detroit which is a different county and different interests, it should include all of Hazel Park, Madison Heights, and Clawson, instead of splitting those cities. These combined cities that I'm suggesting would also be more partisan balanced than drawing part of Detroit into the district which would be packing more Dems into just one Senate district.

This proposed “Z District” packs Democratic voters and clearly violates the constitutional criteria surrounding partisan fairness. Having an approximately 80% Democratic non-VRA district is indefensible. Unpack this district and create a fair map.

Splitting Farmington Hills in Oakland County, and placing the northern section in the 11th District, combined with towns in Wayne and Washtenaw countys that share little in relationship with Farmington and Farmington Hills is unfair and yields a bias towards the GOP. I expected fair maps from this commission. I hope you revise and improve this and other districts to create one, because this one missed the mark.

I am a retired U.S.Attorney. First of all, thanks to all on the Commission for serving and for all the hard work you have done. The map for Senate District 3 does not even follow your stated guidelines for commonality of interests. The northern section is comprised of eastern suburbs of Grand Rapids (where I reside) and is strongly attached to the greater Grand Rapids/Kent county area. However, then the district extends south through Barry County, which has totally different interests. Grand Rapids/Kent County is very industrial while Barry County is very agricultural. The two areas share very little commonality of interest. Further, the population of this area is overwhelmingly caucasian. There is little diversity. Apparently, you have attempted to balance this by contorting the district south through Battle Creek. Battle Creek (again) has different interests than the northern zone which is centered on Grand Rapids/Kent county. This map makes no sense to me, and I suspect it makes no sense to the residents of Barry County or the residents of Battle Creek. It would make much more sense to expand the northern section east through Ionia County, which is much more associated with the Grand Rapids area. Barry County and Battle Creek share much more commonality of interests with the Kalamazoo area. Also the boundaries as drawn on district 3 seem unduly contorted, or gerrymandered, to fit any commonality of interests. I suspect this map, as currently drawn, cannot be legally defended.

I commend the commission for drawing districts that look very different from the districts of the past, and look nothing like what our elected officials would have drawn for themselves. However, this map, like the maps of the past, retains a strong and real Republican lean, and I hope the commission will find a fairer version.

Several years at this, and all you can do is maintain status quo? With a governor and both senators D and have been for years it's clear the D's are underrepresented. You conflate and pack communities of color as much as possible. You really haven't addressed fairness at all, and when we have another statewide body elected to redistrict it's clear the existing biased panelk will have to go.

Verticle map drawing is crazy. Its mixing very diverse community of interests: inner suburbs with wealthy Birmingham and poorer Detroit. It is packing Democrats and not achieving a balance. The area should be horozontal OP/Royal Oak Township east to St. Clair Shores and Warren. The area would be inner suburbs with similer problems of aging, schools, and sewer systems.

As someone who grew up in Ann Arbor, I know that city is in many ways worlds apart from Ypsi. Both are great places to live, but their identities are entirely different, as anyone living you there would point out. I would urge you not to draw a district that includes both Ann Arbor and Ypsi; this lumps together two distinct cities in SE Michigan and packs together communities of color.

Ann Arbor needs to be unpacked. It's size alone warrants it but it has more than one type of community to consider. Ypsilanti should be it's own district or at least the bulk of a district. Ypsilanti's communities are different from the communities of the city Ann Arbor. The Universities' student communities are even different. This would be more representative of each area and be a step toward correcting the partisan bias you have created in your maps. You should use the Fair Maps Project maps as your guide.

These maps are unconstitutional. To allow a 6% bias towards one party is unacceptable and the commission must work towards zero partisan bias. You can do this by unpacking Ann Arbor and giving its western neighborhoods and Scio Township to the Jackson Senate district.

Scio Twp and Western Ann Arbor needs to be unpacked into western Washtenaw.

A 6% bias towards one party is unacceptable. The Constitution requires you to draw fair maps! You can so this by unpacking Ann Arbor, gives its western neighborhoods and Scio Township to the Jackson Senate district. That will go a LONG way toward helping partisan fairness! The Michigan AFL-CIO Fair Maps Project has a good example of how that might look!

These maps are unacceptable. We need nonpartisan maps. Ann Arbor needs to be unpacked into different maps. Ypsilanti should be separate from Ann Arbor. This will bring the area near as possible to zero partisan.

These maps are not fair. It has a 6% bias towards one political party, which defies the mandate you have to conform to a partisan fairness standard. You can do this in part by unpacking Ann Arbor and and allocating some of its neighborhoods to a separate district. The maps developed by the Michigan AFL-CIO is a great set of examples of fair maps that you can look to as an example. Thank you.

I work in Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti should be split apart. They do not share a community of interest and are nothing alike. Ann Arbor has more in common with Jackson and putting them together would be a more fair. It looks like your lumping all the Democratic districts together which isn't fair.

Ann Arbor needs to be split up and remove Ypsilanti out from Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor needs to be unpacked into multiple districts.

This district must be redrawn and it is unacceptable as drawn. Michigan's districting map must be drawn to have a partisan bias of zero. Ann Arbor must be unpacked into multiple districts in order to adequately represent the voters of my city. Ypsilanti should also be included in a different district than Ann Arbor. These changes are paramount so that voters of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti can be represented fairly.

These maps are unacceptable and need to work towards zero partisan bias.

Please do not pack Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti together, the way this map is drawn is unacceptable you need to work on non partisan bias.

UNFAIR PLEASE REDRAW MAP 0 PARTIAN

This current map is unacceptable - not partisanly balanced. Please unpack Ann Arbor - we need more representation in Lansing and separate Ann Arbor from Ypsilanti. Please go to the AFL-CIO Fair Maps Project to find fair solutions to this biased map.

These maps are unacceptable. It is absurd that this map still favors Republicans. The point of fair redistricting is to have zero partisan favorability. In order to achieve that, Ypsilanti should be split apart from Ann Arbor, and Ann Arbor should be unpacked into different districts as well.

These maps are not fair. It has a 6% bias towards one political party, which defies the mandate you have to conform to a partisan fairness standard. You can do this in part by unpacking Ann Arbor and and allocating some of its neighborhoods to a separate district. The maps developed by the Michigan AFL-CIO is a great set of examples of fair maps that you can look to as an example. Thank you.

It is unfair that the overall map should give a 6 percent advantage to Republicans when clearly the majority of voters in Michigan are Democratic...as seen by the election of positions that are voted upon statewide, such as a Democratic Governor, a Democratic Secretary of State, and a Democratic Attorney General. Please correct this bias to reflect the population accurately. Thank you.

unacceptable needs to be non partisan split up ypsilanti and ann arbor ann arbor should be unpacked into multiple districts

Grand Rapids, Kentwood , and East Grand Rapids should be a senate district. Why are you splitting Grand Rapids?

This map is unacceptable as it has a 6% bias towards one political party. After all of your time on mapping to come up with a bias which is just as lopsided as the one developed by politicians in 2010 does not fulfill the spirit of Proposal 2. Please revise to get better political balance.

The totality of maps STILL favor republicans in a state that votes majority democratic in every election in the past 20 years (or more.) This is NOT acceptable. You need to insure that the maps are fair and reflect the total voting population of the state on top of what you are doing. I understand this is all very complicated and difficult but that is the task before you. Thank you. Please insure that the correct changes are made.

As Mayor of Farmington Hills, I strongly object to splitting Farmington Hills into 2 State Senate Districts. In over 40 years, Farmington Hills and Farmington have remained in the same district due to our common socioeconomic background, common school district and shared services, boards and commissions. To divide Farmington Hills does a disservice to our residents.

How can these maps STILL favor Republicans by at least 6% when Michigan increased the vote for Democratic president from 10K to 150K, comparing 2016 to 2020, has 2 Democratic US Senators AND 3 Statewide Dems including Governor, SOS, and AG?

Why is the map leaning 6% toward Republicans. I have had a hard time understanding how Mi8chigan has so many Republican legislators when the votes for Senators, governor and president are for Democrats. The Republicans should be in the minority because they are in the minority. Please fix the map so it reflects the true nature of the State. Thank you for all the work you are doing.

I am attempting to understand in what world does it make sense for this map to lean Republican by over 6%. Our state is led by three Democratic leaders. The state voted for a Democratic president by over 154,000 votes. We currently have 7 Republican congressional representatives and 7 Democratic congressional representatives. We have two Democratic state senators. So tell me why this map is leaning Republican by 6%? It is disappointing to see the commission settle for Republican leaning maps.

Thank you, commissioners, for this draft map. It could use some tweaks (given my local knowledge of Kent County) Cascade township is the Grand Rapids suburbs and has the Grand Rapids airport. It should be combined with the 24th (Northern GR) State Senate District. It should definitely not be part of this 20th! East Grand Rapids should also be a part of the North GR district, not the South. Thank you.

I do not agree with this map. I do not believe Bay County should be split in this way. I believe the northern portion of Bay County has more in common with the rest of Bay County than to the northern or western districts as this map does.

Stuffing the 2:1 Democratic township of West Bloomfield (and its satellite communities of Orchard Lake, Sylvan Lake, and Keego Harbor) - which encompasses a diverse suburban community with substantial and very large Jewish (25%), Chaldean/Assyrian (10%), Black (13%), Muslim, East Asian, South Asian communities (15%), all constituencies, which favor Democratic candidates and policies by overwhelming margins - with exurban/rural, largely white, staunchly conservative townships is asinine. These voting blocs are all concerned about rising bigotry, ethnic intimidation, and hate crimes, similar to Farmington Hills, Bloomfield Township, Troy, and other diverse communities to the East. To cram these West Bloomfield voters in a district, which will not elect a candidate who shares these priorities is dangerous and wrong.

Wayne County carved into 11 districts? I thought the independent redistricting commission was supposed to END gerrymandering rather than multiply it.

I don't live here now, but am familar with this NEIGHBORHOOD. This is the middle of a actual neighbohood street - couldn't this be divided along a more major road like Lasher?? This looks nuts.