MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court has adopted Republican-drawn maps for the state Legislature, after initially approving maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.
The court reversed itself Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court in March said Evers' maps were incorrectly adopted.
Friday's decision from the state court came the same day candidates could start circulating nomination papers to get on the ballot.
Prior to the decision, candidates didn’t know for certain if they were running in the correct district and potential signers wouldn’t know if they lived in the candidate’s district and were eligible to sign the form.
Gov. Evers released the following statement Friday evening:
“This is an outrageous decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This court had clearly and decisively rejected the Legislature’s maps prior to this case being considered by the Supreme Court of the United States, and today, they have backtracked on that decision, upholding the very maps they had previously found to unlawfully 'pack' Black voters. At a time when our democracy is under near-constant attack, the judiciary has abandoned our democracy in our most dire hour. Wisconsinites want a democracy, they want fair representation, and they want fair maps as they have demanded of this government for ten years. Today, they receive no recourse.
“This is an unconscionable miscarriage of justice for which the people of this state will see no reprieve for another decade.”
