State Republicans must redraw Wisconsin’s district maps for the 2018 election by Nov. 1, a three-judge panel ruled Friday. The defendants are expected to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The decision from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals comes after the current legislative map was deemed unconstitutional by the panel in November 2016. The judges said they would not draw the new map themselves, as requested by the plaintiffs. Now, Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislators must scrap the current map and start fresh.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2015 by voters who claimed the map, which Republicans redrew in 2011 once they took control of both chambers, suppressed Democrats votes by confining them to one district instead of spreading them fairly throughout party-contests districts.
Plaintiffs said this caused Democratic candidates to receive “wasted votes,” a ton of votes in urban districts but very few throughout the rest of the state.
In redistricting cases, appeals go straight to the Supreme Court, which defendants are planning to do.
Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel’s spokesman, Johnny Koremenos, said they are “reviewing the court’s order but are expecting to file an appeal with the Supreme Court to seek prompt reversal of this decision.”
The case was orchestrated by the Wisconsin Fair Elections Project and as of Friday is being celebrated as a win.
“[The ruling is] a victory for democracy and we look forward to a process to draw these maps that engage the community and invite public participation,” Sachin Chheda, who chairs the project, said.
Democratic legislators were also pleased withe the ruling.
“The court found Republicans went out of their way to draw a blatantly partisan map in secret in order to undermine the rights of Wisconsin citizens,” Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha, said. “What we cannot and will not tolerate is another map drawn behind closed doors. A new map should be subject to public hearings in different parts of the state to ensure that voters are choosing their representatives, not the other way around.”
The panel that decided the ruling included two Republican and one Democrat-appointed judges. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb was appointed by former President Jimmy Carter, seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kenneth Ripple was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan and U.S. District Judge William Griesbach was appointed by former President George. W. Bush.
