A federal court has agreed to re-draw the legislative boundaries between the 8th and 9th Assembly Districts in Milwaukee.
The three-judge panel had previously ruled the boundaries did not meet the standards of the Voting Rights Act because it created two districts with a Latino influence when it could have created one district with a guaranteed Latino majority.
When the federal court issued their ruling, they enjoined Act 43, which created the new maps for the state’s Assembly and Senate districts. They also ordered the legislature to fix the boundaries between the 8th and 9th Assembly District, without changing the outside boundaries of the districts.
Democrats were eagerly awaiting a chance to re-draw all the maps, especially since they currently share power in the State Senate. Republicans were not interested in coming back into session and re-opening the debate over redistricting.
There was no guarantee the Assembly and Senate would ever be able to work out an agreement. And time is limited, because candidates can state filing nomination papers for the fall elections on April 15th, and they need to know the legislative boundaries they will be running in because only people that live in the district can sign nomination papers.
With that in mind, Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked the court to draw the lines themselves, and it appears the court agrees.
The court has ordered the groups in the case to meet at least once to see if they can agree on the new boundaries in the 8th and 9th, but the issue will not come back to legislature.
With this decision, the fight over redistricting is done. The maps drawn by Republicans will be in effect this fall and remain the same until new maps are drawn for the 2022 election.
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