MADISON, Wis. – The now liberal-conrolled Wisconsin Supreme Court threw out Republican-drawn legislative maps as tortuously jury-rigged to give Republicans an unfair advantage in the Legislature. The court ruled 4-3 to declare the maps unconstitutional. With assistance from outside experts, the court itself will draw new boundaries in time for the 2024 election. The court said it would back off if the Republican-controlled Legislature moves quickly to create satisfactory “remedial maps.” In the past decade Republicans have built large majorities in the Legislature under maps they drew based on 2010 census data. The court, then controlled by Republican justies, didn’t interfere. The new maps were based on the 2020 census.
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Justice Jill Karofksy for the majority: “Because the current state legislative districts contain separate, detached territory and therefore violate the constitution’s contiguity requirements, we enjoin the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the current legislative maps in future elections.”
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Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat: “At long last, the jury-mandered maps Wisconsinites have endured for years might soon be history.”