Article IV § 3 - Representatives, number, term; contiguity of districts. - Michigan Statutes

STATE CONSTITUTION (EXCERPT)
CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN OF 1963

§ 3 Representatives, number, term; contiguity of districts.

Sec. 3.

The house of representatives shall consist of 110 members elected for two-year terms from single member districts apportioned on a basis of population as provided in this article. The districts shall consist of compact and convenient territory contiguous by land.

Each county which has a population of not less than seven-tenths of one percent of the population of the state shall constitute a separate representative area. Each county having less than seven-tenths of one percent of the population of the state shall be combined with another county or counties to form a representative area of not less than seven-tenths of one percent of the population of the state. Any county which is isolated under the initial allocation as provided in this section shall be joined with that contiguous representative area having the smallest percentage of the state's population. Each such representative area shall be entitled initially to one representative.

After the assignment of one representative to each of the representative areas, the remaining house seats shall be apportioned among the representative areas on the basis of population by the method of equal proportions.

Any county comprising a representative area entitled to two or more representatives shall be divided into single member representative districts as follows:

(1) The population of such districts shall be as nearly equal as possible but shall not be less than 75 percent nor more than 125 percent of a number determined by dividing the population of the representative area by the number of representatives to which it is entitled.

(2) Such single member districts shall follow city and township boundaries where applicable and shall be composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly square in shape as possible.

Any representative area consisting of more than one county, entitled to more than one representative, shall be divided into single member districts as equal as possible in population, adhering to county lines.

History: Const. 1963, Art. IV, § 3, Eff. Jan. 1, 1964
Constitutionality: The United States Supreme Court held in Reynolds v Sims, 377 US 533; 84 S Ct 1362; 12 L Ed 2d 506 (1964) that provisions establishing weighted land area-population formulae violate the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Because the apportionment provisions of art IV, §§ 2 - 6 are interdependent and not severable, the provisions are invalidated in their entirety and the Commission on Legislative Apportionment cannot survive. In re Apportionment of State Legislature—1982, 413 Mich 96; 321 NW2d 565 (1982), rehearing denied 413 Mich 149; 321 NW2d 585; stay denied 413 Mich 222; 321 NW2d 615, appeal dismissed 459 US 900; 103 S Ct 201; 74 L Ed 2d 161.
Former Constitution: See Const. 1908, Art. V, § 3.