Wisconsin’s Legislative Districts, Resembling Swiss Cheese, Are Targeted in Lawsuit

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State Representative Jimmy Anderson from Wisconsin must leave his own district twice to visit some of the northern neighborhoods he represents. Starting from his home in Fitchburg, a suburb of Madison, Anderson’s journey to reach his constituents takes him through the 47th, 77th, and 48th Assembly Districts, finally leading to a distant part of his district.

Is it unusual? Definitely. Is it inconvenient? Without a doubt. Is it unconstitutional? Possibly.

Though the state constitution mandates legislative districts to be comprised of adjacent areas, many still include disconnected parts. This results in a map resembling Swiss cheese, with certain districts containing small, isolated neighborhood pockets overseen by different representatives.

The bizarre and unique practice of having separated districts in Wisconsin has been named in a recent lawsuit. This suit aims to abolish and replace the existing Assembly and Senate districts before the 2024 election. It argues that the state’s practice, along with partisan gerrymandering, violates equal protection and free speech under the state constitution.

Similar claims have had inconsistent outcomes across the country, but Democrats in Wisconsin hope their Supreme Court’s liberal majority will reject the gerrymandering that has favored Republicans. The noncontiguous districts might offer judges a neutral ground for ruling against the current maps without discussing the legality of partisan gerrymandering.

Professor Kenneth R. Mayer of the University of Wisconsin-Madison remarked that this case might give the courts an impartial basis to decide that the maps are not acceptable.

Wisconsin’s districts are among the nation’s most skewed, favoring Republicans more than proportionately to their average vote share, a Big Big News analysis has shown.

Normally, states follow principles like ensuring that districts are nearly equal in population, compact, contiguous, and follow the boundaries of cities and counties. “Contiguous” is usually taken to mean that all parts of a district are connected, except for some rational exceptions like islands.

Wisconsin’s approach to contiguity, however, has been more lax. Professor Justin Levitt of Loyola Marymount University Law School called Wisconsin’s detached districts “profoundly weird.”

The disconnected territories in Anderson’s district create a challenge for him, especially since he uses a wheelchair. Moreover, his constituents in remote areas are often confused about their representation.

One resident, Gabrielle Young, became a plaintiff in the lawsuit after learning about the disconnected districts from the attorneys who filed it. She called the situation “ridiculous.”

The lawsuit refers to an 1892 case, stating that districts “cannot be made up of two or more pieces of detached territory.” However, 55 of the 99 Assembly districts and 21 of the 33 Senate districts now contain separated sections, as noted in the lawsuit.

Mark Gaber from Campaign Legal Center said that the situation has clearly deviated from the norm at some point. He insisted that the written words must be enforced as they are.

Though in 1992 a federal judicial panel endorsed detached legislative districts, the political landscape has changed. The Republicans, currently in control of the Legislature, proposed maps with disconnected districts that the Wisconsin Supreme Court accepted last year.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos defended the districts as constitutional, referring to earlier court decisions.

According to Micah Altman, a research scientist at MIT, contiguous and compact district criteria must be balanced with other principles, like equal population distribution and maintaining the integrity of municipalities and counties.

In Anderson’s district, the disconnection may not have altered the partisan composition, but experts warn that noncontiguous districting could allow manipulation in favor of politicians.

Justin Levitt warns, “When you allow mapmakers to draw districts that are noncontiguous, you give them even more flexibility to perpetrate abuse.”

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More about fokus keyword Wisconsin’s legislative districts

• Wisconsin Constitution
• Campaign Legal Center
• All About Redistricting
• Big Big News Analysis (Note: This link is fictional as the original text did not provide information about a real source for the analysis)
• Loyola Marymount University Law School