Name: Mapping it out: Wisconsin prepares for 'really tight time frame' to redraw district lines
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Mapping it out: Wisconsin prepares for 'really tight time frame' to redraw district lines

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You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.With the release of federal redistricting data , Wisconsin officials are preparing for what they're characterizing as a "really tight" timeline for creating new legislative district boundaries ahead of the 2022 elections.Those delays, due in large part to the COVID-19 crisis, will bring further drama to a process that is all but certain to end up in the courts due to the current state of divided government."It seems unlikely, somewhere between extremely unlikely to impossible, to imagine that the governor and the Legislature will agree on a set of maps," said Rick Esenberg, president of the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law &amp; Liberty. "The matter will go to court, which adds another step to the process that is already very compressed."While the may be able to get redistricting data in an outdated format in August, weeks earlier than the end-of-September date officials previously announced, the period is still five months past the March 31 legal deadline to release the information.The reality has fueled about the amount of time observers would have to challenge the boundaries in court.Fair Elections Project director Sachin Chheda said the quick turnaround "will force all the players to operate honorably and to move quickly because we'll have to get through the map drawing and litigation before April (of 2022).""The courts are going to have to work quicker than sometimes they normally do to make sure that we get through all those steps of the process, but the quality of the process doesn't have to be impacted," he added. "We're not talking about a few weeks, we're still talking about many months, and so it can be done well and it can be done correctly by all of the different players. They're just going to have to work a little faster."With months to go before the state gets the federal data it needs to redraw legislative and congressional lines, preparations&nbsp;— and lawsuits&nbsp;— are already underway.Leaders of the Republican-led Legislature have signed legal contracts retaining lawyers in case their maps go to court, potentially putting taxpayers on the hook for more than $1 million, .The news led in Dane County Circuit Court against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, arguing the practice of lawmakers entering into such contracts is illegal before a challenge has been filed.But well before that back-and-forth, last summer seeking to ensure any lawsuits over redistricting would be sent directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Such lawsuits could be filed as soon as the federal data is released under the proposal.The court's conservative chief justice, Pat Roggensack, of WILL's effort during a hearing on the proposal in January. Conservatives hold a 4-3 majority.Chheda, whose group opposes the petition, said he anticipates the court will issue a decision in the next couple of months.In general, federal courts have handled suits concerning redistricting.The maps Republican lawmakers drew a decade ago, which were signed into law by then-Gov. Scott Walker, were challenged as an illegal partisan gerrymander, but the U.S. Supreme Court over Democrats' arguments that the lines were drawn to boost Republicans.This time around, the bill Republicans introduce to re-draws the lines will be vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Without the two-thirds majority necessary to override it among GOP lawmakers in both chambers, the issue will likely end up in court.Meanwhile, the redistricting panel formed by Evers has held a series of virtual hearings in recent months with residents from each congressional district as it prepares to draw its own maps this year.That People's Maps Commission could seek to influence the redistricting process by offering up its own maps, which could ultimately be removed by the Legislature or ignored in lieu of a different, likely Republican-backed proposal to redraw the lines.Still, members' efforts could come into play during the legal process as judges work to finalize the districts.&nbsp;Esenberg, of WILL, said in court, lawmakers would defend their own proposals to redraw the lines while other litigants, including possibly the commission, could offer up their own maps for consideration.In that case, he said, it's possible the courts may "just pick one of them" as the official new legislative and congressional districts."Particularly given the time constraints, it's quite possible that the court would decide to simply choose among the maps submitted by the litigants," he said.In the meantime,&nbsp;, the condensed timeline has led to concerns over how many opportunities for public input would be made available throughout the redistricting process.Chheda, though, noted the commission hasn't been and doesn't have to wait for the Census data to gather public input about topics like "where communities of interest have grown and how they should be represented and what people think about their own local lines.""They can collect the input now and then drop in the data after the really down-to-the-weeds Census information comes out later this year and take that into account," he said. "You don't have to wait until September I guess is what I'm saying, for those hearings and that public input to take place."Evers in a January 2020 executive order as a way to increase accountability in the Republican-controlled Legislature, he said. The idea, first proposed in that year’s State of the State address, was panned by GOP legislative leaders.People's Maps Commission Chair Christopher Ford, a Whitefish Bay resident and emergency medicine physician, said in a statement the panel's next phase is to establish map drawing criteria and identify communities of interest.The "communities of interest" idea is one principle of redistricting that's considered when creating new district boundaries (others include equal population, compactness, contiguity and political competitiveness). As the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau explained in a , "communities of interest" center around the idea of grouping like-minded or similar individuals "so they may elect a representative that reflects their common values," such as common economic status, ethnicity, language culture or political philosophy."Our work to build fair maps and serve our state is just getting started,"&nbsp;Ford said. "We look forward to continuing to engage members of the public throughout our process and remain committed to transparency."Become a Cap Times member today and enjoy great benefits.Questions?{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.With the release of federal redistricting data , Wisconsin officials are preparing for what they're characterizing as a "really tight" timeline for creating new legislative district boundaries ahead of the 2022 elections.Those delays, due in large part to the COVID-19 crisis, will bring further drama to a process that is all but certain to end up in the courts due to the current state of divided government."It seems unlikely, somewhere between extremely unlikely to impossible, to imagine that the governor and the...

Mapping it out: Wisconsin prepares for 'really tight time frame' to redraw district lines

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