The Wisconsin Supreme Court hears arguments in a case that could toss what critics say are the state’s lopsided legislative maps.

  • neptune@dmv.social
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    11 months ago

    “All the territory needs to be touching. It needs to be one unit. But that’s not the way the maps look,” says attorney Jeff Mandell, who represents 19 Democratic voters.

    He argues the Wisconsin Constitution requires the 132 legislative districts in the state to be contiguous.

    “The majority of the districts in Wisconsin presently include non-contiguous territory — little islands and chunks that are disconnected from the rest of the district,” Mandell says.

    He argues that dilutes the ability of voters to unify behind common interests.

    But attorney Luke Berg, who represents 10 Wisconsin voters from districts Democrats want to change, challenges the contiguity claim. Berg says the legislative maps have long recognized that some communities in this state have disconnected neighborhoods.

    So like what the fuck connects a discontinuous neighborhood then? Are they putting all the Bears fans in WI in on district? I can see someonw make a straight face argument that they combined all the farmers in a suburban county with a rural county, maybe. But wouldn’t you need a really solid argument for why these pockets of voters have been isolated from their geographic neighbors?

    Otherwise the answer seems obviously racial or partisan. If not just stupid and illegal.