In its decision last December in the redistricting case Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that our current legislative maps are unconstitutional because most of the state’s Assembly districts are noncontiguous — meaning parts of some districts are actually located inside others. The Wisconsin Constitution states that in addition to the contiguity requirement, maps must maintain the integrity of communities of interest and ensure that districts be within town, precinct, ward or county lines. After declaring the state’s Republican-drawn legislative maps unconstitutional, the court’s majority subsequently appointed two experts to oversee Wisconsin’s redistricting process and established deadlines for the submission of new maps.

Iuscely Flores, Racial Equity and Economic Justice Advocate for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Fair Maps Organizer for the Fair Maps Coalition, joins Tony and Eli on the Thursday 8 O’Clock Buzz to explain how this ruling opens the door to the possibility of unseating Wisconsin as the “most gerrymandered state” and how the process of approving a new plan for fair, non-partisan representation in Wisconsin will unfold this spring. Hopefully the Republicans won’t fiddle with it.

Photo courtesy of GeoJangoMaps on Pixabay.

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