GOP Controlled State Assembly In Wisconsin Passed Their Gerrymandering Redistricting Map AB624 By 60-38 In Wisconsin That Violates The Voting Rights Act

The Republican controlled State Assembly voted 60-38 along Party lines to pass their own version of a redistricting map known as gerrymandering, which voting district lines are drawn to favor electing Republican candidates for the next decade.

By H. Nelson Goodson 

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

November 11, 2021

Madison, Wisconsin - On Thursday, the Republican controlled State Assembly voted 60-38 along Party lines to pass their own version of a gerrymandering map AB624 and to concur with SB621 redistricting map, which was passed in the State Senate on a vote of 21-12 on Monday. 

Also on Thursday, AB 625, the Congressional redistricting bill concurrent with State Senate Bill 622 was laid on the table by unanimous consent.

The AB624 map was supported by both State Assembly Republican majority House Speaker Robin J. Vos and State Senate Republican majority leader Devin LeMahieu with hardly no public support for the GOP gerrymandering maps.

The House Democrats at the last minute decided not to submit alternative redistricting maps because the Republicans alleged that they had violated open meeting laws by not allowing any public input on the maps, according to Vos. Vos offered an amendment 1 to allow the Governor Tony Evers's People's Maps Commission (PMC) redistricting map to be introduced, the amendment failed on vote of 21-77. 21 State Assembly Democrats supported the PMC map, which dilutes Hispanic and Black voting age populations in State Senate Districts (SD) 3, 4 and 6 including State Assembly Districts 7, 8 and 9 in SD 3, 10, 11 and 12 in SD4 and 16, 17 and 18 in SD6.

According to a press conference on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 held by State Senator Lena C. Taylor (D-Milw) and State Representative Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milw), all the proposed redistricting maps diluted the Hispanic and Black voting age populations (VAP) in minority majority districts in Milwaukee and violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) mandates. For the Latino districts to keep their VAP majority, they would need at least 70% of the Hispanic VAP in order to elect a representative of their choice. In the Black districts, they would at least need to have about 60% of Black VAP to elect their choice of representatives.

All the proposed redistricting maps diluted both the Hispanic and Black VAP majority districts compared to 2011.

During Thursday's State Assembly session, State Representative Marisabel Cabrera alleged that the GOP and the PMC's redistricting maps are not fair maps, which violated Wisconsin Open Meeting Laws, also violate the VRA and failed to use the correct processing data, which was the Citizenship voting age population and all the proposed redistricting maps used the wrong data. 

State Representative Cabrera from the State Assembly District 9th and State Representative Ortiz-Velez from the State Assembly District 8th voted against the PMC map and also voted no for the GOP maps because they are unconstitutional, unfair maps, diluted both the Hispanic and Black VAP and violate the VRA.

Now, the GOP redistricting maps AB624/SB621 head to Governor Tony Evers Office and Evers is expected to veto it. Either the GOP, Evers or the Dems will file a State court lawsuit to determine the legality of the redistricting maps.