Green Bay rally demands electoral maps get redrawn as maps undergo questioning at state Supreme Court
GREEN BAY - About 45 people joined a rally in Green Bay to protest the state's current legislative district maps while the state Supreme Court heard arguments in a case whose outcome could change how the maps are drawn.
The rally was one of four across the state led by the Fair Maps Coalition to bring attention to the case brought straight to the state Supreme Court. The court heard three hours of arguments Tuesday. The ruling in the case could impact electoral maps in Wisconsin, which currently heavily favor Republicans.
The lawsuit was brought to the Supreme Court in August by Law Forward, a liberal-leaning law firm in Madison that focuses on voting issues, bypassing lower courts to get a possible outcome before the 2024 elections.
More: Challenge to Wisconsin election maps undergoes sharp questioning before state Supreme Court
More: Lawsuit challenging Wisconsin's legislative maps filed at the state Supreme Court
The lawsuit was brought by 19 Wisconsin residents and argues that the state Supreme Court did not have the right to override Gov. Tony Evers' veto when it adopted the set of maps he vetoed. The lawsuit also argues that the electoral maps violated the state's Constitution because some parts of districts are not connected.
The current maps tilt heavily in Republicans’ favor, with 63 of the 99 Assembly seats and 23 of the 33 Senate seats leaning toward the GOP, according to a 2021 analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"Every single vote that is put forward is counted but they aren't counted the same — they don't have the same value," said Penny Bernard Schaber, co-chair of Common Cause Wisconsin in Appleton and former Assembly member, at the rally.
Rep. Kristina Shelton, D-Green Bay, said reaching the oral arguments in court Tuesday marked a "validation" of organizers' years of work to change the state's electoral maps and make them fair.
"These are not districts that get owned by Republicans or Democrats or elected officials," Shelton said. "They are the people's districts."
People at the rally walked downtown for a block around the Brown County Courthouse, chanting "This is what democracy looks like" and asking for "Fair maps now."
Maps for next year's November elections must be in place by March 15, 2024. If the lawsuit is successful, it will force the named senators to run in new districts in a special election in 2024 for a new two-year term despite being in the middle of a four-year term.
The suit does not challenge Assembly members or the rest of the Senate districts because those lawmakers are already up for reelection next year.
"This is the central issue to everything else and the future of Wisconsin," Shelton said.
Other rallies on the issue were planned Tuesday in Madison, Milwaukee and Eau Claire.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay rally demands electoral maps get redrawn as maps undergo questioning at state Supreme Court
