Contact: Rep. Katrina Shankland (608) 267-9649

MADISON – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will be hearing Wisconsin’s redistricting case. This follows a U.S. District Court ruling last fall, which found Wisconsin’s legislative boundaries to be an “unconstitutional partisan gerrymander” and later ordered the districts to be redrawn.

In response, State Representative Katrina Shankland (D-Stevens Point) released the following statement:

“I’m very happy that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on this case, and am hopeful that they will come to the same conclusion that the lower courts already have – that Republicans purposely gerrymandered Wisconsin’s legislative districts to rig the game in their favor by lowering the impact of Democratic votes. Doing so would send a message to the entire nation, where gerrymandered districts have unfairly tipped election results in dozens of states. A favorable U.S. Supreme Court ruling would affect the future of our elections monumentally – we would have fair districts, accountable government, and effective representation.

“Voters should be choosing their elected representatives, not the other way around. Too many people feel that the system is rigged against them, and with unconstitutional districts in place, they are absolutely right. But instead of redrawing the maps as they were court-ordered to do, Wisconsin Republicans continue to waste taxpayer dollars on private attorneys to defend them. Governor Walker today said it’s‘woefully ignorant’ to point to past election results as evidence of partisan gerrymandering. The only thing that is ignorant is Republicans using taxpayer dollars to deny voters fair districts and a level playing field. It’s time to reject the Republican gerrymander once and for all.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email