LANSING, Mich. (WWJ) -- A potential settlement has been reached in a lawsuit which alleges existing political district lines in Michigan are gerrymandered.
The settlement stipulates 11 state House seats are unconstitutional and would need to be redrawn by the Republican-controlled legislature. Districts in the Metro Detroit area that would require being redrawn include the 24th in Macomb County, 32nd seat near Port Huron and 55th in Ann Arbor.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says the case is before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, and the court will have the final say on whether the agreement is accepted.
Attorneys for Republican legislators say they intend to appeal the decision with the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a report from the Detroit News.
Benson, however, says the Republicans could benefit from the potential settlement, as the Republican-controlled House would be in charge of re-districting.
“You look at the decision and it’s quite likely Republicans could gain seats out of this," Benson told WWJ. "It could advantage them just as it could advantage any other party. But that said, I was not elected to make decisions with an eye towards what the partisan implications would be on either front. I’m a long-time advocate of citizen involvement in redistricting and independent redistricting.”
The districts were approved by the Republican-led legislature in 2011 and the lawsuit alleges the districts were intentionally drawn to take power away from Democrats by packing Republicans into certain areas or keeping Democrats out of others.
Benson says the districts in question are mostly in the bottom half of the state state, including near Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and the three in the Metro Detroit area.
"It’s particularly in urban areas across the state and really reflective of efforts to intentionally either pack one party into one district or take voters out of the other,” Benson said.
“I know this is not the last time I will be called upon to make a difficult decision based on my objective interpretation of the law that may also have partisan implications," she said. "But that said, I’m prepared to bare that burden and expect that many decisions I make will be disliked whomever will lose political influence or stands to lose political influence as a result of them.”