Left-Leaning Wisconsin Groups Challenge the State’s Political Maps
The latest legal maneuver seeks to have new maps drawn by March and requests that the State Supreme Court take “original jurisdiction” of the case, meaning that it would immediately be heard by the justices and would not be referred down to district or circuit courts. If successful, it would require every Assembly seat and every Senate seat to be redrawn and elections for all of them to be held next year — including for Senate seats that are not otherwise up for re-election in 2024.
“This case is about ending the systematic silencing of voters across the state as punishment for daring to think, believe, and vote differently from a group of politicians who won a single election 13 years ago and then set out to entrench themselves into power permanently, the state’s Constitution — and the rights of its residents — be damned,” the petition states.
Should the court order new maps for Wisconsin and untangle the gerrymander, the battle for the Wisconsin legislature is likely to become one of the most closely contested in the country. The state already has a Democratic governor in place through 2026, and if the state swings Democratic in the 2024 elections, liberal activists’ dream of a blue trifecta in the critical battleground state could come closer to reality.
Redistricting, or the process of drawing new maps for congressional and state legislative districts based on population, occurs once every 10 years. But in recent years, a series of legal challenges, court decisions and statewide referendums have left many of the country’s political maps in permanent flux.
In just the past two months, both Alabama and Louisiana were ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court to redraw their maps to create a second majority-Black district in each state.
Source: The New York Times
