When the Republican-controlled Legislature adopted Gov. Tony Evers’ proposed legislative maps earlier this week, Democrats were skeptical of a provision in the GOP-authored bill that said the new maps couldn’t be used until the general election later this year.
Some saw in the provision an effort to protect Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who’s facing a recall effort. If that is successful, the vote might have to wait until the fall election since the state Supreme Court has declared the current maps unconstitutional.
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“I’m wondering if this doesn’t have something to do with that recall,” Sen. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, said before the Senate approved the bill on Tuesday. “I’m wondering if Robin Vos didn’t want to try to make sure that he can be recalled in his current district even though it’s unconstitutional, rather than a new one.”
But the provision did not come from the Republicans at all. It was inserted by the nonpartisan staff of the Legislative Reference Bureau who drafted the bill.
In a memo to Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, on Tuesday, Legislative Reference Bureau chief counsel Joseph Kreye said delaying the implementation of new maps for elections is “standard practice.”
“Applying new plans immediately to recall and special elections occurring before the general election would create quite a bit of confusion regarding representation,” he said. “For example, putting new maps in place before the next legislative election would result in overlap between the old districts and the new districts and raise the question as what legislator is representing what constituents.”
If the new maps applied immediately before most legislative seats were up for reelection, some districts could go without representation while others could have more than one legislator in a district, Kreye continued.
“Please note that it is not uncommon for there to be a gap from the adoption of a redistricting plan to when it first applies,” Kreye said. “This gap is often necessary to promote efficient and timely election administration. This is true even if a court renders the previous plan unconstitutional.”
When LeMahieu’s office asked the reference bureau to write the redistricting proposal last Thursday, its one-sentence request simply asked for a substitute amendment to an entirely different redistricting bill “with maps that are identical to the governor’s maps.”
The approved boundaries, an amended version of Senate Bill 488, is “identical in all respects” to maps Evers proposed to the Supreme Court, according to the reference bureau.
The bill that was amended originally called for the Legislative Reference Bureau to redraw the state’s maps using nonpartisan principles. That broad policy change, which had been stuck in the Senate since October, was thrown out entirely in favor of simply adopting Evers’ maps.
The amendment was introduced on the Senate floor Tuesday without a public hearing or committee vote.
Although the bill largely gave them what they wanted, some Democrats feared the measure was a Republican ruse to bypass the Wisconsin Supreme Court and ultimately give Republicans a new set of maps they could appeal in federal court.
Legislative approval of the maps marked a dramatic political shift in Wisconsin where, for over a decade, Republicans benefitted from maps that experts say give the GOP a baked-in electoral advantage. Those maps, which determine which legislative district each voter gets to participate in, have helped hand Republicans a 22-10 supermajority in the Senate and a 64-35 majority in the Assembly.
While Evers’ maps could shrink — and even reverse — those majorities, GOP lawmakers have found the governor’s maps to be more favorable for them than three other Democratic alternatives before the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Given their alternatives, Democrats have called for Evers not to sign his own maps into law. But the governor has said he would sign the bill.
Tuesday’s vote came as the high court nears its deadline to choose new maps after declaring the current Republican-drawn maps unconstitutional in December. Wisconsin elections officials have said any new maps need to be in place by mid-March.
When the court struck down the current maps, the four liberal justices comprising the majority said they would select new ones unless the Legislature did so first.
If Evers signs the proposal into law, one of the parties involved in the court case could ask the court to dismiss the case as moot, UW-Madison Law School associate professor Robert Yablon said.
The court called for new legislative maps that include contiguous districts that are equally populated; bounded by county, precinct, ward or town lines; are as compact as possible; comply with federal law, including the Voting Rights Act; preserve communities of interest; and reduce municipal splits.
Additionally, the court called for maps that don’t favor one party over another. That amounted to a major victory for Democrats, because experts say the current GOP maps were drawn to benefit Republicans.
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