To the Journal editor:

Central to the League of Women Voter’s mission is the belief that democratic government depends upon informed and active citizen participation at all levels of government. After observing the Marquette County Apportionment Commission we reaffirmed that vigilance and attention is necessary to defend these beliefs.

The commission, composed of the county clerk, prosecuting attorney, treasurer and the two major party chairs, recently completed its job of drawing new district lines following the 2020 Census. Throughout most of the process, the commission was transparent, thoughtful, and appeared to be following the established criteria — until the Oct. 8 meeting.

What happened at that meeting was the antithesis of the process up to that point: At the last minute, after little discussion or explanation, three of the five members unexpectedly voted to approve a brand new 6-district map, despite the fact that:

≤ It was only received by some members earlier that day;

≤ It was not available for public input;

≤ An odd number of districts was favored by Commission members and the public;

≤ All the maps on the website scored higher on the criteria;

≤ It split Marquette Charter Township, against the township’s wishes;

≤ It would create more problems for clerks responsible for administering elections.

The commission’s Oct. 8 actions left many observers with the perception that the commission wasn’t following its own mandates and was behaving in a less than transparent fashion.

The appearance of current county board members, who spoke in favor of maintaining the status quo, raised some eyebrows and the league observers found some of the comments, in both tone and length, quite inappropriate; the chair of the commission had to cut off a board member after they well exceeded the 5 minutes allotted for public comment.

As it turned out, the apportionment commission realized its Oct. 8 vote was taken without a proper motion. At a subsequent meeting held Oct. 12, they voted to reconsider their earlier vote and ultimately voted unanimously to approve one of the original 6-district maps that had been vetted by the members and the public.

To their credit, members explained why they were now voting for a 6-district map, even though it didn’t score as well as one 5-district map.

The Marquette County LWV appreciates the many hours the members spent but, in light of what happened, we hope the public and the press will be watching next time.