Two more redistricting lawsuits have been filed in Wisconsin as conservatives and liberals mount a legal battle over election maps

Patrick Marley
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Voters filed two redistricting lawsuits Monday as conservatives and liberals fight over whether state or federal judges should be the ones to decide how to draw Wisconsin's congressional and legislative districts.

The latest lawsuits follow one brought a week and a half ago in federal court by Democratic voters. 

On Monday, voters represented by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed one of the lawsuits before the state Supreme Court. Hours later, three voting rights groups brought their own case in federal court in Madison.

The competing lawsuits show all sides want to get the matter before their preferred set of judges. 

All the lawsuits were brought against the state's bipartisan Elections Commission soon after the U.S. Census Bureau released detailed data on the state's population. The publication of that data instantly rendered the existing districts unconstitutional because it showed they no longer have equal populations, the lawsuits argue.

States every 10 years must draw new districts to account for changes in population. Where the lines go can give one political party major advantages. 

Republicans who control the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers are not expected to reach a deal on the maps, which will leave it to the courts to decide where to put the lines. 

The lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty seeks to give lawmakers and Evers time to develop maps. If they cannot, the lawsuit asks the state Supreme Court to draw new maps that make as few changes as possible. That would keep intact most of the edge Republicans now have because they drew the maps that have been in place for the last decade. 

Among the voters the institute represents is Eric O'Keefe, a board member of Empower Wisconsin, a conservative group that has been running ads against Evers.

Eric O'Keefe, a longtime Wisconsin-based conservative activist.

As the director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, O'Keefe led legal challenges to a campaign finance investigation of Republicans that the state Supreme Court determined was improper and shut down in 2015. 

O'Keefe and the others brought the redistricting lawsuit directly to the state Supreme Court. Most litigation begins in circuit courts, but there is little time for appeals in this case because new maps must be ready in time for next year's elections.

Four of the court's seven justices were elected with the backing of Republicans. One of those justices, Brian Hagedorn, at times has broken with conservatives and sided with liberals on high-profile issues. 

Monday's other lawsuit was brought by Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, Voces de la Frontera and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. They are represented by Law Forward, a liberal nonprofit law firm focused on voting issues. 

Like the lawsuit filed a week and a half ago by Democrats, the lawsuit from the voting rights groups seeks to have the court draw new maps if Republicans and Evers can't reach a deal on them. 

Their lawsuit could be combined with the one brought by Democrats. That case is being heard by a panel of three federal judges — one nominated by former President Donald Trump and two nominated by former President Barack Obama. 

It's unclear whether the state or federal courts will play the primary role in deciding what to do with the maps in the early stages. More litigation over the maps is possible, which would further complicate how the legal battle will play out. 

Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.