In Baker v. Carr (1962), the US Supreme Court held that the reapportionment of state legislative districts is not a political question, and thus is justiciable by the federal courts. In Reynolds v. Sims (1964) The Supreme Court struck down state senate inequality in Alabama, basing their decision on the principle of "one person, one vote." Hence, all states needed to comply with this ruling. The MI Constitution, drafted in the same year as Reynolds, complied with this ruling.

In 1997 the Michigan state legislature (of which the Republican Party had a large majority in both chambers) updated the 1964 Constitution by drafting MCL 3.61 to further guide legislative redistricting. MCL 3.61 establishes the following requirements. First, the principle of "least cost" holds throughout, and states that municipalities should be incorporated within districts if the population of a municipality is smaller than the size of an average Congressional District. Secondly, populations for Congressional districts must not fall outside of the 95% to 105% range of the average district size (MCL 3.63d). Finally, the preservation of municipal and county identity is encouraged, and district lines should be drawn on municipal or county boundaries (3.61g).