Redistricting Trial Delayed; Government Control At Stake

A three-judge panel gave Republicans until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to agree to redraw new legislative and congressional district boundaries. 

The panel delayed the start of oral arguments Tuesday morning in a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin's new Republican-drawn redistricting maps. The trial is expected to continue Wednesday if Republicans refuse to agree to redraw the district lines.

The secretive process by which these maps were drawn has received a lot of attention lately. But it's the way the maps carve up communities and groups of people that will be challenged in federal court this week.

Attorneys representing Democrats and Latinos contend the map violates the federal Voting Rights Act. When Republicans drew the map, they created two Assembly districts where Latino voters have a majority when measured by their voting age population. But when you only measure citizens, plaintiffs say neither district hits that mark, despite significant growth in Wisconsin's Latino population.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz with the group Voces de la Frontera is scheduled to testify. She says the map dilutes the voting power of Latinos, "The 8th Assembly District, which has produced the only Latino legislator in Wisconsin, now has less Latino voters. So in fact we are moving backwards and our voting rights are being trampled on."

Democratic attorneys will also argue that the map disenfranchises 300,000 Wisconsin residents by making them wait six years instead of four for their next state Senate election. Republicans contend the wait is actually shorter for many because of recall elections. Democrats will also argue that the map breaks up communities like Marshfield, which is being split into two Senate districts for the first time in a century.

The political stakes for this court case are about as high as they get. Because Republicans control all levers of state government they were able to draw a map that would give them an electoral edge for the next decade. But that prize could be taken away if a court orders the map redrawn or decides to draw the lines itself.

Parts of this story were first reported by Shawn Johnson and appeared on Wisconsin Public Radio.