Politics & Government

Wisconsin Redistricting Experts Tell Supreme Court Republican Map Proposals Are Gerrymanders

They declined to draw their own maps but said they could do so quickly if the court instructed them to.

(CBS)

February 2, 2024

Consultants hired by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to examine six proposed maps redrawing state legislative districts said Thursday that maps submitted by the Republican Legislature and a conservative law firm are partisan gerrymanders, but they stopped short of declaring the other four constitutional.

Find out what's happening in Across Wisconsinfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Only the court can determine whether any of those four plans from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, Democratic lawmakers and others are constitutional, wrote Jonathan Cervas, of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and Bernard Grofman, of the University of California, Irvine.

Any of those maps could be improved based on criteria the court identified as being important including political neutrality, compactness, contiguity and preserving communities of interest, the consultants wrote.

Find out what's happening in Across Wisconsinfor free with the latest updates from Patch.


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