“All the territory needs to be touching. It needs to be one unit. But that’s not the way the maps look,” says attorney Jeff Mandell, who represents 19 Democratic voters.
He argues the Wisconsin Constitution requires the 132 legislative districts in the state to be contiguous.
“The majority of the districts in Wisconsin presently include non-contiguous territory — little islands and chunks that are disconnected from the rest of the district,” Mandell says.
He argues that dilutes the ability of voters to unify behind common interests.
But attorney Luke Berg, who represents 10 Wisconsin voters from districts Democrats want to change, challenges the contiguity claim. Berg says the legislative maps have long recognized that some communities in this state have disconnected neighborhoods.
So like what the fuck connects a discontinuous neighborhood then? Are they putting all the Bears fans in WI in on district? I can see someonw make a straight face argument that they combined all the farmers in a suburban county with a rural county, maybe. But wouldn’t you need a really solid argument for why these pockets of voters have been isolated from their geographic neighbors?
Otherwise the answer seems obviously racial or partisan. If not just stupid and illegal.
I could be wrong, it’s all a bunch of guys in tights chasing other guys in tights, but, if any Wisconsinite were to be a bears fan…. I’m pretty sure their family would take them out back and have full until they weren’t a bears fan.
Or were you talking about those bars that, put out bear bait so their patrons can see bears while getting drunk?
I’m not sure how this isn’t a very clear decision. Article IV, sections 4 and 5 clearly state that the senate and assembly districts should consist of contiguous territory.
It’d really be good for everyone in the long run if the maps are tossed. We have several states that wouldn’t qualify as democracies at the state legislature level, Wisconsin and North Carolina being the most egregious. That just isn’t sustainable. (It’s obviously good for Democrats in the short run if Wisconsin’s gerrymandered map is tossed. I’d argue it’s good for Republicans long run since there’s more than one way for the people to assert their will and all the ones besides free and fair elections get messy quick.)
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