Redistricting commission semifinalists picked

Michigan’s first Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is closer to being staffed.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office announced in a Wednesday news release that 200 semifinalists were selected to potentially serve on the commission.

The semifinalists’ applications are available at

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The selections were picked from a pool of 9,326 applicants by independent accounting firm Rehmann LLC.

The applications are 48.5 percent politically unaffiliated, 38.5 percent Democratic and 13 percent Republican.

People 55 years old or older accounted for 61 percent of the applications. White people made up 78 percent of them.

Oakland County provided the most applicants with 1,777.

“The entire selection process was conducted via livestream, with Stephen Blann of Rehmann LLC operating the selection software and then matching the 200 selected applicant ID numbers to the corresponding applicants in real time,” the release said. “Video of the process is available on the website and archived on MDOS’s YouTube channel and social media platforms.”

A federal appeals court refused to block the creation of the commission, which will draw seats in Congress and the Legislature after the 2020 census, denying lawsuits filed by Republicans who claimed eligibility rules violate their constitutional rights.

An amendment to Michigan's constitution took redistricting out of the hands of lawmakers and placed it with a 13-member commission.

Many partisan elected officials and their family members are barred from getting a commission seat.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April let stand a judge’s decision to not grant an injunction to the Michigan Republican Party.

The list of semifinalists will be delivered to the Legislature. Both parties and the chamber leaders will have until July to remove up to five applicants.

The final selection will happen in August.