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A New Legislative Landscape?
Wisconsin is now one of over a dozen states revisiting the makeup of legislative districts, following the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s December decision to redraw those maps. A 4-3 majority of the court said the current maps violate the Constitution’s requirement that legislative districts must be compact and “contiguous,” pointing out that a majority of both Senate and Assembly districts include fragments of land separated from the main part of the district. The Court has hired its own mapping consultants and ordered parties to submit new maps by the end of next week on January 12th.
The Court decision allows the Legislature and Governor to pass new maps, but that route is considered unlikely. Look for stories about the new maps, and the Courts’ response to those new maps in the next few weeks. The Court has said it intends to have new maps in place by March 15. No matter how the maps look, a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court is likely.
Maps are critical for local election officials and (obviously) potential candidates. The March 15 deadline is intended to give both local governments time to prepare ballots and to give local legislative candidates adequate information to compete for an August 13th primary.
The court decision has no effect on either Congressional districts or city aldermanic districts.
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