Federal judges may take up a redistricting lawsuit Wednesday after Republican lawmakers said Tuesday they could not fulfill the judges' request to redraw the latest state redistricting maps.
Lawyers for state Democrats and Milwaukee-based Latino rights group Voces de la Frontera, who filed the initial suit, contend Republicans could still redraw the maps because the legislative session has not yet expired.
The three-person panel of federal judges echoed the groups' complaints Tuesday, asking that Republicans assess potential issues of discrimination and disenfranchisement, particularly those impacting Latino voters in Milwaukee.
Democrats contend the new lines discriminate against minorities by dividing the majority-Latino district in Milwaukee, potentially violating the federal Voting Rights Act.
The new lines also impact some voters shifted out of districts, putting six years between them and the next time they can vote in Senate elections.
Because Senate elections are staggered, half the body is elected every two years, tacking that time onto the usual four-year gap.
Shifting some voters is "inevitable," UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said, "but the maps put a lot of voters in that category, about 300,000, and one of the complaints in the lawsuit is that you're disenfranchising an unreasonable number of voters."
Republican representatives declined to comment on the case because it is ongoing.
GOP lawyers said Tuesday that Republican legislators were interested in changing the maps drawn last summer, but are prevented by a century-old court ruling which states that redistricting-the process of adjusting state voting districts to account for the latest census data-must only be done every 10 years.
If the deposition goes forward, the trial may not be completed by the end of this week, and could adjourn until March 12 or 19, Wispolitics reported.
