Wisconsin senate adopts new legislative maps that could undo gerrymandering

The Wisconsin state senate voted on Tuesday to adopt legislative maps drawn by the Democratic governor, Tony Evers – inching the state closer to undoing the extreme gerrymander that has ensured Republican control of the state for more than a decade.

The vote from the Republican-dominated legislature is a sign that the years-long battle over Wisconsin’s legislative maps may be finally drawing to a close, giving Democrats a chance to win control of the state legislature in upcoming elections for the first time since 2012.

The vote is the result of a December ruling from the Wisconsin supreme court that the current state assembly and senate maps are unconstitutional, ordering the state to adopt new legislative maps before the 2024 election – and setting a mid-March deadline. Republican and Democratic lawmakers, the governor and multiple third party groups submitted revised maps to the court for consideration, and in a 1 February report, consultants hired by the court to review them said that the GOP-drawn maps maintained the partisan gerrymander and “do not deserve further consideration”. The maps submitted by Democrats retained a Republican advantage, the consultants found, but to a much-reduced degree.

Democrats in the senate overwhelmingly voted against the bill only after attempting to send it back to committee for review, alleging that because the bill would not go into effect until fall 2024, it was designed to protect Republicans from special elections and recall efforts in the meantime. Instead, they argued, the state supreme court should pick legislative maps to implement. The court could potentially pick maps that benefit Democratic lawmakers more than Governor Evers’ maps.

“We should let the supreme court continue to