University of Michigan stu-

dents turned out in record num-
bers for the November 2020 
election, with 78.1% casting a 
ballot, according to a report by 
the Institute for Democracy & 
Higher Education at Tufts Uni-
versity. This outpaces the 66% 
turnout across all of the campuses 
included in the report and mirrors 
the 79% turnout in Washtenaw 
County. 

Nevertheless, student voters at 

the University have historically 
demonstrated low turnout in local 
elections, leaving some to consider 
that the turnout problem doesn’t 
solely lie in students not wanting 
to engage but in other factors such 
as voting accessibility. 

This could boil down to a long-

debated structural issue — the 
1956 adoption of Ann Arbor’s 
pie-shaped ward map. The 1956 
City Charter established five pie-
shaped wards, and in an April 
1967 election, Charter Amend-
ment Three passed, codifying the 
requirement that there be five 
wards that are compact, of similar 
population and wedge-shaped, 
tapering from the city’s edge into 
Downtown Ann Arbor.

This 
pie-shaped 
require-

ment effectively splits up student 
neighborhoods surrounding the 
University, making it difficult for 
students to hold a majority in a 
single ward. In an interview with 
The Michigan Daily, Council-
member Kathy Griswold, D-Ward 
2, said some community members 
have claimed that the pie-shaped 
requirement was “Republican 
gerrymandering” 
implemented 

to intentionally crack students 
into multiple wards, although it is 
unclear whether that is the case.

In an email to The Daily, 

Kenichi Lobbezoo, Ann Arbor 
Student Advisory Council chair 
and Skyline High School senior, 
wrote that the pie-shaped wards 
dilute college student voices in 
government. 

“Whether intentionally or not, 

the current ward structure has 
the effect of basically gerryman-
dering student votes,” Lobbezoo 
wrote. “If students are split up 
into different wards where they’re 
in the minority, it’s that much 
harder to elect one of their own.” 

In March 1967, a month prior 

to the election which codified 
the pie-shaped ward require-

ment, City Council Democrats 
proposed a six-ward plan, which 
they believed would provide stu-
dents stronger representation and 
increase the ties between coun-
cilmembers to their constituents. 
The plan was struck down by the 
Council’s 7-4 Republican majority, 
preserving the five-ward system. 

At the time, council Republi-

cans claimed the Democrats’ plan 
would decrease council efficiency 
and was designed as a power grab, 
but then-City Attorney Jacob Fah-
rner Jr. penned an opinion claim-
ing that the change would not, in 
fact, establish minority rule. 

Ballot text of the Ann Arbor 

City Charter amendments con-
sidered in the April 3, 1967 elec-
tion, obtained by FOIA. Charter 
Amendment Three passed with 
56% of the vote and Charter 
Amendment Four failed with 47% 
of the vote. City of Ann Arbor.

In April 1967, the community 

had the opportunity to vote on 
Charter Amendment Four, which 
proposed a six-ward requirement, 
but the amendment failed amid a 
Republican sweep of the election.

Now, more than 50 years later, 

the five-ward, pie-shaped map 
persists, with City Council recent-
ly approving a pie-shaped reappor-
tionment of wards despite claims 
the new map sustains the status 
quo and disenfranchises students.

Ann Arbor’s new ward bound-

aries continue to split student 
housing into multiple wards. The 
University of Michigan lies at the 
center of the map where the wards 
intersect. City of Ann Arbor.

The primary problem
Ann Arbor holds its primaries 

in August, before students come 
back to campus. A Republican has 
not held a City Council seat since 
2005, meaning primary elections 
tend to be the deciding election for 
City Council seats because Demo-
cratic primary winners typically 
either beat a Republican challeng-
er or run unopposed in the general 
election.

Since most students are out of 

town, they miss the determining 
election for their Councilmember. 

Rackham student Amir Fleis-

chmann, contract committee co-
chair for the Graduate Employees’ 
Organization, said in an interview 
with The Daily the August prima-
ries prevent students from both 
voting and running for office. 

“The way City Council is elect-

ed with the de facto election being 
the Democratic primary that takes 

place in August disempowers stu-
dents,” Fleischmann said. “It’s not 
really possible for (students) to 
run for these positions, so we can’t 
have representation on council in 
the way that others are able to.”

Student voters have historically 

encountered obstacles in register-
ing to vote, and students who move 
residences between wards from 
year to year face the challenges of 
having to update their voter regis-
tration and becoming acquainted 
with their new councilmembers.

University students cast early 

votes for the November 2020 elec-
tion at the temporary Ann Arbor 
City Clerk’s satellite office estab-
lished at the University of Michi-
gan Museum of Art. More than 
48,000 students are enrolled at 
the University of Michigan, but it 
is unclear what proportion of Ann 
Arbor’s 113,000 residents are stu-
dents. Students have historically 
been undercounted by the census, 
with the lowest census response 
rate being in student dominated 
neighborhoods. 

Despite students making up a 

significant, yet ill-defined chunk, 
of Ann Arbor’s population, they 
are rarely elected to council. The 

most recent student Councilmem-
ber, Zachary Ackerman, D-Ward 
3, served from 2015 to 2020 and 
was the first student elected in 
more than two decades. 

Nithya Arun, president of Cen-

tral Student Government and 
Public Health senior, said since 
students make up such a large per-
centage of the population, their 
interests should be represented on 
City Council. 

“When we look at the composi-

tion of City Council, none of them 
are students currently, which kind 
of doesn’t make sense, because a 
lot of Ann Arbor is (composed) of 
students,” Arun said. “(Students) 
are a significant population, and 
any type of population, for that 
matter, deserves representation.” 

In 2005, University student 

Eugene Kang ran for City Council 
in Ward 2, and lost the August pri-
mary by a narrow 95-vote margin, 
despite significantly out-fundrais-
ing his opponent. 

Notably, in Kang’s race, zero 

votes were cast from Ward 2’s Sec-
ond Precinct which encompasses 
Mary Markley Residence Hall. 
Had the election been held when 
Markley’s more than 1,100 student 

residents were moved in, it is pos-
sible Kang could have mustered 
enough student votes to carry him 
to victory.

Students seek a piece of the pie
Arun, Fleischmann, Griswold 

and Lobbezoo all pointed to a stu-
dent being elected to City Council 
as a possible immediate way to 
increase student representation on 
local issues. 

“The most direct solution is to 

elect more students to local gov-
ernment,” Lobbezoo wrote. “The 
more young people you have in 
local government, the more local 
government is going to be recep-
tive to the priorities of young peo-
ple.” 

Nevertheless, the time commit-

ment required for a council mem-
ber can serve as a barrier to entry 
for college students. Councilmem-
bers and the mayor are considered 
part-time workers, and many hold 
full-time jobs, although balancing 
day jobs and council duties can be 
difficult.

“I’ve never met a student who 

wanted to be on council at the 
same time they were a U of M stu-
dent,” Griswold said.

Student interest in holding pub-

lic office may be limited, but it isn’t 
nonexistent. Last year, students 
formed the Coalition to Elect Stu-
dents to the Board of Regents, as 
they felt representation was lack-
ing on the board.

In an interview with The Daily, 

Ann Arbor Mayor Christopher 
Taylor said if a student were to be 
elected to City Council, they would 
have to be able to understand the 
interest of all of their constituents 
— including non-students.

“The student who wishes to be 

elected has to understand their 
potential constituents and to 
communicate to them why (the 
student) will be the best repre-
sentative for them,” Taylor said. 
“Unless you intentionally gerry-
mander the student district, then 
any student running for office 
would need to ensure that their 
campaign included and spoke to 
the hopes and dreams of non-stu-
dents.”

Fleischmann said the lack of a 

student councilmember results in 
City Council overlooking student 
issues.

News
Wednesday, January 26, 2022 — 3

ADMINISTRATION

No matter how you slice it, UMich students perceive a 

lack of representation in local government

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF

Daily Staff Reporter

A deep-dive into why undergrad voters have historically demonstrated low turnout in municipal elections

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

DOMINICK SOKOTOFF/Daily

Read more at MichiganDaily.com

Around 100 community members rally against violence at 
Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Ypsilanti 

CHEN LYU

Daily Staff Reporter

Protestors oppose prison’s operation, advocate for justice for incarcerated individuals

Content warning: This article 

contains descriptions of violence 
against women.

Around 
100 
community 

members gathered outside the 
Women’s Huron Valley Correc-
tional Facility in Ypsilanti Sun-

day morning to protest against 
the prison’s operation and advo-
cate for justice for the currently 
incarcerated individuals.

Gwen Thomas, one of the 

organizers of the protest, pro-
vided 
The 
Michigan 
Daily 

with two whistleblower clips. 
The clip was recorded by a for-
mer prison employee detailing 
the abuses inside the facility. 

The anonymous voice on the 
recording said a male correc-
tional officer, believed to come 
from a contracted service, strip 
searched the female inmates 
outside of camera view, which 
is against the facility’s policy, 
according to the recording. The 
recording said the officer was 
not reprimanded. 

The Women’s Huron Val-

ley Correctional Facility has 
also received criticisms over 
its crowding level and sanitary 
condition following 24 scabies 
breakthrough cases among their 
inmates in 2019. 

Ashley Goldon, who was 

formerly incarcerated and is 
now the director for the state-
wide program Nation Outside, 
a Michigan-based organization 
dedicated to supporting justice-
impacted individuals, spoke at 
the protest. Nation Outside is 
Goldon recounted her experi-
ences in the facility during her 
speech. 

“Before I was an advocate, 

before I was a director of Nation 
Outside or had a pot to piss in, I 
was (identified in the prison as) 
681349,” Goldon said. “We can’t 
heal our nation by treating the 
most vulnerable population like 
animals. Even the prongs give 
their beasts access to heat and 
water.”

In an interview with The 

Daily, Goldon explained how 
gender 
inequality, 
combined 

with rising COVID-19 cases and 
overcrowding, made this facil-
ity’s situation unusual, even 
among Michigan prisons where 
the incarcerated serve on aver-
age the longest sentences in the 
U.S. 

“There weren’t nearly as 

many women in the prison at 
Huron 
Valley 
(Correctional 

Facility) when I was there,” 
Goldon said. “They have 400 
beds, but the facility was never 

intended to hold 2400 people, 
so they were making rooms that 
were once common areas into 
sleeping quarters. We’ve been 
hearing complaints from the 
women on the inside that they 
are sleeping on the floor. The 
difference with a men’s prison 
is that they have several facili-
ties to shuffle people around if 
needed to make sure everyone 
is safe for COVID. There is only 
one for women in Michigan.”

The 
protestors 
marched 

around the correctional facility. 
Facing the building from behind 
the fencing and barbed wire, the 
crowd stood in a line and shout-
ed: “We see you, we love you, we 
will be fighting with you!” 

Goldon told The Daily in an 

interview after the rally that 
later contact with individuals 
inside the facility, many felt and 
were inspired by the support 
from outside, but the prison shut 
down the yard to prevent gath-
ering.

Gordon 
also 
pointed 
out 

that Women’s Huron Valley 
Correctional Facility was dis-
proportionately 
impacted 
by 

COVID-19. According to data 
published 
by 
the 
Michigan 

Department of Corrections, as 
of Jan. 19, there were 276 posi-
tive active cases. 

Shawanna Vaughn, a jus-

tice-impacted activist and the 
founder of Silent Cry, Inc., said 
she travelled to Michigan from 
New York after hearing about 
the protest and violence against 

women in the prison system. 
During her speech to the crowd, 
she underscored the trauma 
linked to incarceration and 
encouraged Michiganders to 
press for legislative change like 
she did in NY for W76337, the 
post-traumatic prison disorder 
act that made its way to the New 
York State Senate.

“W76337 was my prison num-

ber,” Vaughn said. “I wrote it 
myself because it’s the only mass 
incarceration mental health bill 
in the country, and I’m clear that 
everybody who comes home 
from prison is not well. Guess 
what? Since the state made us 
not well, they don’t want to heal 
us, but 2022 is gonna be a dif-
ferent type of season because 
we comin (sic)to get everything 
they steal from us.”

Trische’ 
Duckworth, 
the 

founder of Survivors Speak, 
told The Daily about their goals 
for enacting legislative change, 
including advocating for SB487, 
a Michigan Senate bill to pro-
vide oversight over women’s 
prison. 

“When it comes to criminal 

justice reform, our politicians 
are the ones that legislatively 
delay on that, ” Duckworth 
said, “So if they’re not going to 
do what’s right in their seat, we 
will ensure that we individuals 
will do what is right for people 
at all times.”

Daily Staff Reporter Chen Lyu 

can be reached at lyuch@umich.
edu.

Image courtesy of Chen Lyu

