Wisconsin Panel Dismisses Democratic Redistricting Suit

A three-judge panel in Wisconsin dismissed a lawsuit filed by Democratic voters on Tuesday, ruling that the state's circuit courts lack the authority to challenge the current congressional district boundaries. The decision leaves the matter to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and likely preserves the existing maps for the November midterm elections.

The lawsuit contended that Wisconsin's congressional districts, drawn after the 2010 census, discriminate against Democrats by concentrating many Democratic voters into two districts while dividing others to favor Republican candidates in the remaining six. Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that the maps resulted from partisan gerrymandering by the Republican-controlled legislature at the time. Under the current configuration, Republicans hold six of the state's eight U.S. House seats, with only two districts viewed as competitive by election analysts.

The panel emphasized that its ruling did not endorse the maps. "This panel is not endorsing the current congressional map," the judges wrote. "Rather, we, as circuit court judges, do not have the authority to read into a Wisconsin Supreme Court case an analysis that it does not contain."...