By every metric, Wisconsin’s legislative plans score among the most– if not the most– skewed in the nation. We have endured 12 years of rule by right-wing interests, and the voters of Wisconsin deserve fair representation.
On Aug. 2, 2023 Law Forward and co-counsels filed a Petition to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin to take jurisdiction of an original action to challenge the gerrymandered state legislative maps.
The existing legislative maps are an extreme partisan gerrymander that violates various parts of the Wisconsin Constitution. Specifically, the existing maps (1) retaliate against some voters based on their viewpoint and free speech, in violation of Wisconsin’s guarantee of free speech; (2) treats some voters worse than others based on their political views and where they live in violation of Wisconsin’s guarantee of equality; and (3) violate the promise of a free government found in the Wisconsin constitution.
The existing maps are the exact same maps that the governor vetoed in November of 2021, a veto which the Legislature tried and failed to override. By making them the maps we use for elections, the Court violated Wisconsin’s separation-of-powers principle and the governor’s constitutional authority to veto bills.
Wisconsin’s constitution requires that all districts be contiguous—meaning they cannot be made up of separate pieces of detached territory. Over half of Wisconsin’s current districts violate this basic provision of adjoining communities.
The 19 Petitioners in Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission are from all corners of Wisconsin and demonstrate the effects the right-wing gerrymander has had on Wisconsin voters, families, and communities they include.
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