Wisconsin Supreme Court Overturns Republican-Drawn Legislative Maps

Image: “Wisconsin Supreme Court Ruling on Legislative Maps”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has recently made a significant decision in a redistricting case, overturning Republican-drawn legislative maps. This ruling was made in favor of the Democrats, who argued that the legislative maps were unconstitutional due to the non-contiguous nature of the districts. The court’s decision to side with the Democrats aims to weaken the GOP majorities in the state, which has been a battleground in past presidential elections.

The ruling comes less than a year before the 2024 election, a crucial time for the state where four out of the past six presidential elections have been decided by a narrow margin. The Republican-drawn maps have allowed the party to build large majorities in the Legislature over the past decade.

The court ruled 4-3 in favor of the Democrats, with Justice Janet Protasiewicz, who joined the court after her April election victory, playing a crucial role in the decision. Protasiewicz had previously criticized the GOP-drawn maps, calling them “unfair” and “rigged.”

The lawsuit was filed shortly after the court’s majority shifted to a 4-3 liberal control in August. Prior to this, the court had been dominated by conservative justices.

The ruling has significant implications for the upcoming 2024 election, as new district boundary lines must be drawn to replace the overturned maps. The state elections commission has stated that these new maps must be in place by March 15 if they are to be in play for the 2024 election.

Democrats argued that all 132 lawmakers should stand for election under the new maps, including half of the members of the state Senate who are midway through their four-year terms. In contrast, the Legislature argued that no new maps should be enacted any sooner than the 2026 election.

The Democrats’ case also included an argument that the state Supreme Court violated the separation of powers doctrine when it adopted the Republican-drawn map that Democratic Governor Tony Evers had previously vetoed. They claimed that the court improperly seized powers that were assigned to other branches of government.

The legislative electoral maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 have been instrumental in cementing the party’s majorities in the state. Since then, Republicans have enacted a wide range of conservative policies, including the near-elimination of collective bargaining for public workers.

This ruling in Wisconsin is part of a larger trend of ongoing litigation in more than a dozen states over U.S. House and state legislative districts enacted after the 2020 census. The outcome of these cases will have a significant impact on the political landscape in the United States in the coming years.