Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A commissioner with local ties has resigned from the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.

Voters amended the state constitution in 2018 to give the responsibility for drawing state and congressional electoral districts to an independent commission of Michigan voters.

Howell High School graduate Dustin Witjes was among those affiliated with the Democratic Party on the 13-member Commission. He had resided in Ypsilanti but it recently came to light that he had been living and working in Illinois for more than a year.

Witjes submitted his written resignation, which was received by the Secretary of State’s Office yesterday. No formal action is required from the commission to accept the resignation.

As required by the Michigan Constitution, the Michigan Department of State will hold a livestreamed random selection on Thursday, January 3rd at 3:30pm to replace Witjes.

The state constitution outlines the process of replacing commissioners. A new commissioner will be randomly selected from the remaining pool of semi-finalist applicants who affiliates with the same party as the departing commissioner. Of the 200 semi-finalists randomly selected in June 2020, there are 52 remaining who affiliate with the Democratic Party.

The commission is comprised of four people who affiliate with the Republican Party, four people who affiliate with the Democratic Party, and five people who do not affiliate with either major political party.

The January 3rd event will be livestreamed on Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission social media accounts. Rehmann LLC, which has conducted all previous random selections, will perform the random selection. Prior to yesterday’s resignation, two commissioners previously resigned and random selections were held in September and October 2020 to fill those vacancies.

Republican State Representative Ann Bollin of Brighton Township said Witjes’ resignation was “long overdue” and the situation exemplified a lack of accountability and a disregard for the responsibilities tied to the crucial role. Bollin said “Living outside the state inherently disconnects individuals from the communities they are supposed to represent. It removes them from the direct consequences of the decisions they make as commissioners. This kind of detachment undermines the integrity of the entire redistricting process and erodes public trust”.

More information about the commission is available in the provided link.