Milwaukee County Will Vote On Redrawn Political Maps Friday

MILWAUKEE, WI — The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors will review new supervisorial districts Friday based on data from the 2020 Census.

The board will vote on a resolution to adopt a new district map drafted by the Milwaukee County Independent Redistricting Commission in a process that took months.

The new map would follow federal equal population mandates, including representing communities of color, per the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the resolution said.

Eighteen districts are drafted in the latest district map. They're split between areas where whites are the majority and areas where people of color are the majority.

The new maps will truly represent the Hispanic community and allow such voters in Milwaukee to choose the candidates of their choice, County Supervisor Sylvia Ortiz-Velez told Wisconsin Public Radio.

Milwaukee County's Latino population has grown by 21.4 percent since 2010, with the most growth on the city's South Side, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

The county would have to draw its maps before allowing cities to draw new aldermanic district maps, according to state law.

Wisconsin's state redistricting deadline is April 15, 2022, when congressional candidates begin registering to run for office, FiveThirtyEight reported.

Neither party controls the redistricting process in the state, but new maps would have to be drafted by the Republican-led Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.