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The
Supreme Court justices, in a 21-page ruling, sided with the
left-leaning nonprofit group Law Forward, which sued to overturn
the maps as unconstitutional because many of them were not
contiguous.
The redrawn congressional map is likely to make two
Republican-held seats more competitive, according to analysts.
Republicans hold six of eight seats despite Wisconsin's status
as a swing state, meaning a state that is typically competitive
between Republicans and Democrats.
This year the most expensive state Supreme Court election
campaign in U.S. history resulted in a new liberal majority. The
winning candidate, Janet Protasiewicz, who was sworn in in
August, had called the Republican-drawn maps "rigged" during the
campaign.
"Because we enjoin the current state legislative district maps
from future use, remedial maps must be drawn prior to the 2024
elections," Justice Jill Karofsky wrote for the court's 4-3
majority.
"Today's decision from the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a victory
for a representative democracy in the state of Wisconsin," Law
Forward said in a statement. "For too long, right-wing interests
have rigged the rules without any consequences."
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Annette Ziegler accused her
liberal colleagues of partisan motives in the ruling.
"Giving preferential treatment to a case that should have been
denied smacks of judicial activism on steroids," Ziegler wrote.
“Democrats have decided to try elections in the courtroom rather
than actually earn voters’ trust at the ballot box. By throwing
out these maps, left-wing jurists on the Wisconsin Supreme Court
have usurped both their authority and the will of the majority
of Wisconsinites who favor keeping existing districts,” Brian
Schimming, chair of the state Republican Party, said in a
written statement.
A similar legal fight is ongoing over congressional maps in
Georgia, where lawsuits claim Republican-drawn district lines
illegally diluted the voting power of minority residents near
Atlanta.
(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Josie Kao)
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