MADISON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Wisconsin Assembly passed versions of Republican-drawn redistricting maps on Thursday.
Every 10 years, the Legislature is tasked to redraw legislative districts based off of changes that occurred in the population.
A commission that Gov. Tony Evers created drew its own maps, but the Assembly struck it down.
Some Democrats argued the maps diluted minority voters.
“We tried many times speaking with the Governor’s office, and the People’s Maps Commission, to address our concerns and we were basically dismissed, gaslighted, and ignored. Mr. Speaker, there was a significant lack of responsiveness on part of the elected officials to the particular needs of the members of a minority group,” State Rep. Sylvia Ortiz -Velez, a Democrat from Milwaukee said.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, from Rochester, says the Republicans have drawn up a map in a robust, public process.
“We had a first ever public-facing website, where individuals could put in their own ideas for communities of interest. They could put in their own ideas to be incorporated into the map,” Vos said.
Democrats say the maps drawn up by Republicans are out of touch with the people of Wisconsin.
“You baked in a map with an advantage and now you’re trying to make it a permanent advantage at the expense of democracy in our state,” State Assembly Democratic Minority Leader Gordon Hintz, from Oshkosh, said.
Vos argues the process used by Democrats to draw redistricting maps is partisan.
“When they drew their map, they drew the only map by doing extreme gerrymandering that would result in a Democrat majority,” Vos said.
Hintz says Democrats have stood and continue to stand for fair maps.
The Assembly voted to pass Republican-drawn maps in a 60-38 vote.
Gov. Evers has already said that he will veto the bill.
That means courts will ultimately approve the final maps.
