Finding "almost laughable" Republican claims that newly drawn electoral districts were not influenced by partisan factors, a panel of three federal judges unanimously ruled that new maps for two districts on Milwaukee's south side violate the Voting Rights Act and dilute Latinos' voting power.
The judges enjoined the state's Government Accountability Board from implementing Act 43 as it stands, but Wisconsin's 130 other newly drawn districts are expected to stay the same.
Act 43 concerned redistricting of state legislative districts.
Wisconsin Act 44 affected congressional redistricting, and Act 39 permitted the Legislature to draw new districts before Wisconsin's municipalities drew or redrew their ward lines based on the 2010 Census.
Voces de la Frontera and Latino community members filed a federal complaint that was consolidated with an earlier lawsuit filed by other Wisconsin voters. Both groups claimed the Legislature violated the Voting Rights Act by dividing Latinos into two Assembly districts.
They said the split would dilute the power of Latino voters in the two districts and force them to wait 6 years to vote in state Senate elections, instead of the usual 4.
The three-judge panel agreed, finding that "representative democracy cannot be achieved merely by assuring population equality across districts." They judges called the Republican drafters' testimony that they were not influenced by partisan factors "almost laughable." READ MORE
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