State Legislative Redistricting

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WI Court of Supreme Court

Case Name: Rebecca Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission

Case No.: 2023AP001399-OA

Officials:

Focus: State Legislative Redistricting

The Court entered the following order on October 6, 2023:

On August 2, 2023, petitioners Rebecca Clarke, et al., 19 Wisconsin voters, filed a petition for leave to commence an original action under Wis. Stat. § (Rule) 809.70, together with a supporting memorandum, an appendix, and a motion for a scheduling order. The petitioners allege that the state legislative districts adopted by this court in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Comm’n, 2022 WI 19, 401 Wis. 2d 198, 972 N.W.2d 559 (Johnson III)—including the voters’ districts—are an unconstitutional extreme partisan gerrymander; violate Article IV, Sections 4 and 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution because the districts do not consist of “contiguous territory;” and violate the Wisconsin Constitution’s separation-of-powers doctrine. The petitioners ask that the supreme court assume original jurisdiction and, after resolving certain legal questions, declare the existing state legislative districts unconstitutional. This court has long deemed redistricting challenges a proper subject for the court’s exercise of its original jurisdiction.

Decided 10/10/23

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