Wis. cities, counties face crunch for maps
Redistricting delayed by Census difficulties
Municipalities and counties across Wisconsin are facing a tight timeline when it comes to local redistricting, raising concerns among some that the public could have less opportunity to participate in the once-a-decade process.
“I just don’t know how communities are going to be able to have a fully engaged public in this hypercompressed timespan,” said League of Wisconsin Municipalities Deputy Executive Director Curt Witynski.
Federal law requires the U.S. Census Bureau to deliver its 2020 census data to states for redistricting no later than March 31 this year, but the coronavirus pandemic caused delays, according to a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis.
That data, which is needed to redraw maps, is expected to arrive at the state in August. It must then be processed, which can weeks. Then it is transferred to the counties so the local redrawing of district maps for county boards of supervisors, municipal elected positions and wards can begin.
Local governments are facing deadlines to have the maps redrawn so election notices can be published Nov. 23 for the spring election.
Gov. Tony Evers also vetoed legislation that would have delayed changes to the municipalities’ and counties’ district lines, allowing them to conduct spring 2022 elections using the current districts. The new maps would have been in place in the spring 2023 elections for local races.
The legislation would not have affected redistricting for the state Legislature or Congress.
“In attempting to solve one problem, the bill creates a larger one,” Evers wrote in his veto message. “The bill creates too great of a delay in creating the new maps. This will result in malapportioned maps that do not
accurately reflect current populations, which violates the constitutional principle of one person, one vote.”
He wrote that the bill would result in “local elections occurring for one or two more years under old district lines that were created as part of the same process which resulted in some of the most gerrymandered congressional and legislative seats in the country. To deny Wisconsinites from having lawfully reapportioned local districts, even temporarily, is unjust and undemocratic.”
Supporters argued it was necessary because of delays in the census data.
The League of Wisconsin Municipalities, Wisconsin Counties Association, Wisconsin County Clerks Association and Wisconsin Towns Association registered in support of the legislation. The Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association, Dane County and the City of Madison were among those registering against it.
“I was surprised by the fact that ... local governments could not stay below the kind of highly partisan filter that every discussion of redistricting is viewed through,” Witynski said.
It’s too early to know whether it’s feasible to pull off, but he said municipal staff usually find ways to get things done even as circumstances change, he said.
Andrew Phillips, outside legal counsel for the Wisconsin Counties Association, said the concern over the public’s ability to participate on a shortened timeline prompted the association to request action from the state Legislature.
State law requires that counties hold public hearings but not municipalities, officials said.
The state could see some counties and municipalities meet the deadline for redistricting, some try but fail, and others say it’s simply not a feasible timeline, he said.
The association is evaluating legal options with the goal of avoiding lawsuits against counties and municipalities, he said.
He said he’s hearing from counties that are anticipating a busy fall between conducting annual budget deliberations and redistricting.
“It’s a bit overwhelming, but I think I’m seeing a resolve to get it done and get it done the right way,” he told the Journal Sentinel.
Concern mixed with confidence in Milwaukee County
In the state’s largest county and city, officials expressed concern mixed with confidence.
Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson in a statement expressed confidence that the county would complete the redistricting process this year so maps used in 2022 elections reflect the county’s current populations and demographics.
But she left open the possibility that it may not be possible.
“If the Board of Supervisors doesn’t adopt the first draft of maps, revising and approving a second or third draft would extend the process,” she said. “It’s more important to get this right than to do it quickly — if we can’t complete the process by Nov. 23 we’ll have to use the current maps for one more election cycle.”
Milwaukee County will for the first time have an independent redistricting committee in place.
The six retired judges Nicholson appointed to the panel are expected to be approved by the County Board of Supervisors at its Thursday meeting.
One of the members, Jean DiMotto, said Evers’ veto didn’t affect the committee’s plan.
“Our plan has always been to get this done before the end of November, and so we’re still raring to go and ready to meet and eager to get digging into the data when it comes in,” she said.
She said the committee would meet in August when she anticipated that efforts to ensure meaningful public participation would be on the agenda. The plan is to hold four public hearings, she said.
The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission will provide technical assistance and map drafting services to the committee, and the county is also required to offer the same redistricting services to the 19 municipalities.
SEWRPC Executive Director Kevin Muhs said although the shortened timeline creates a challenge the organization would redirect staff and, if necessary, delay other work to meets its deadlines.
The focus, he said, is on meeting the deadline but not at the expense of drawing poor maps.
Milwaukee City Clerk Jim Owczarski told a Common Council committee that, ideally, the city would have its district boundaries finished by Nov. 10 in order to make the Nov. 23 deadline.
A committee meeting and Common Council meeting would be required for the ward and aldermanic district maps, he said. Unless special meetings were called, the city’s deadline to complete the maps would be the council’s Nov. 2 meeting.
That also assumes Mayor Tom Barrett signs off, he said.
“We’ve gone from approximately, conservatively 51⁄2 months to somewhat less than two” for the entire redistricting process, Owczarski said.
Judges could draw maps
If a municipality tries and fails to draw its new boundaries, he said, the Counties Association said on a statewide call that a judge would likely end up drawing the maps for that election.
There is no precedent for a municipality refusing to try to meet the deadline, he said.
Owczarski said on a technical level he was confident the city could meet the deadlines but that community involvement would likely be less than in previous years.
Ald. Michael Murphy said the city has historically held community meetings during the redistricting process and has needed the full time to ensure residents are able to participate. That has been required to avoid lawsuits and address issues of equal representation, he said.
He also pointed to the multiple major issues with which the city will be contending simultaneously this fall.
“This is during the budget on top of issues and discussion on (federal) ARPA funding, so it’s going to be a very busy September and October to try and accomplish all these things at the same time and making sure that people have a voice in this process,” Murphy said. “I think it’s very unfortunately they put us in this position.”