Wisconsin voters want a federal court to throw out the state Assembly district map, alleging the line‐drawing process “secretive” and “partisan” and the maps unconstitutional for overly advantaging one party. “My rights as a voter are being violated,” retired university professor Bill Whitford, one of the plaintiffs, stated. “If my vote counted as much as each one of my fellow citizens, I would be able to affect the shape of the Legislature. But I can’t, because they’ve decided through these maps that I simply don’t count.” The lawsuit, Whitford v Nichols, argues the current map is one of the “worst partisan gerrymanders in modern American history.”
“This kind of partisan gerrymandering is both unconstitutional and profoundly undemocratic,” the complaint states. “It is unconstitutional because it treats voters unequally, diluting their voting power based on their political beliefs, in violation of the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection and because it unreasonably burdens their First Amendment rights of association and free speech.”
The complaint further states, “Extreme partisan gerrymandering is also contrary to core democratic values. In the end, a political minority is able to rule the majority and to entrench itself in power by periodically manipulating election boundaries.”
Lawyers for the plaintiffs held a news conference in Madison earlier this month to outline the case and case law — federal courts have harshly criticized the process the Republicans used to secretly draw maps following the 2010 census.