HOWELL, MI – Earlier today, the Livingston County Apportionment Commission unanimously voted to petition the Michigan Court of Appeals requesting an extension on the time frame for the local apportionment process.
On August 27th, the Livingston County Apportionment Commission received a legal opinion from their attorney advising the Commission that their 60-day statutory deadline began on August 12th with the official U.S. Census data release. Since then, the Secretary of State and Attorney General have failed to clarify the timeline, permitting counties to use either August 12th or September 16th as the beginning of the statutory time frame for local apportionment.
“The notion that local redistricting commissions across the state are being forced to guess by which timeline they should abide by is absurd,” said Meghan Reckling, Chair of the Livingston County Republican Party. “The failure by the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to provide counties with clear guidance is a dereliction of duty, and it has now forced us to seek an extension in order to clarify our time frame moving forward.”
The petition from the Commission, motioned by Reckling, asks the Michigan Court of Appeals to provide the Livingston County Apportionment Commission an extension deadline until November 15, 2021, at 12:00 pm. The Commission will also ask the court to consider their petition immediately, in addition to waiving the court fees.
“Local public servants across the state of Michigan are simply looking for clarity and certainty in order to do their jobs,” said Reckling. “How Benson and Nessel failed to address this serious aspect of the local redistricting process is mind-boggling, to say the least.”
The Livingston County Apportionment Commission set their next meeting for Wednesday, October 6, 2021, at 2:00 pm.
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