Governor Evers Says He's Unlikely to Approve Maps if Based on Current Ones

Thursday, September 30th, 2021 -- 2:00 PM

(AP) Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday it’s unlikely he would sign into law any maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature that are based on the current ones, boundary lines that solidified GOP majorities over the past decade.

The state Legislature approved guidelines Tuesday for drawing new political boundary lines that require making the new maps adhere as closely as possible to ones drawn a decade ago. Democrats and Evers want the new maps to be drawn from scratch.

Those Republican-drawn maps enacted in 2011 have been identified as among the most gerrymandered in the country. The Legislature is preparing to vote on new maps this year as part of the once-a-decade job of redistricting.

Evers was asked at a Tuesday news conference at the World Dairy Expo in Madison whether he would sign maps that are based on the ones in place now.

“If they’re based on the current maps that are clearly gerrymandered and have been rejected by a number of counties in the state through referenda, it’s unlikely,” Evers said. “The current maps are inadequate and to base on our decision-making on that inadequacy would not be doing the people’s work.”

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