FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 18, 2018
Response to Gill v Whitford decisionto remand back to trial court
MILWAUKEE – Today the Supreme Court issued a decision, in which the court seemed to re-emphasize that Partisan Gerrymandering is bad for our country, and that map-rigging should not stand, but sent Gill v Whitford back down for further proceedings on a legal technicality.
“We continue to stand proud that a group of citizens came together and took a case all the way to Supreme Court,” said Sachin Chheda, director of the Fair Elections Project, which originally organized and launched the lawsuit. “This is definitely not the end of the road.
“The lawyers are reviewing the decision, & the plaintiffs will examine their options,” continued Chheda, who also serves as co-chair of the WI Fair Maps Coalition, 13 Wisconsin organizations fighting for the end of partisan gerrymandering. “In the meantime, we will immediately focus on gaining more support for independent redistricting reform & passing legislation in the coming term to ensure next round of map-drawing is fair.”
The coalition has been actively promoting independent redistricting reform, including AB44/SB13, which the Republican Majority refused to even hold a hearing on in the recently completed session. The coalition will be focused on passing legislation in the coming session, and introducing the issue of map-rigging into the conversation during this fall’s election.
“There is no vindication for the state’s rigging of the maps and disenfranchising of our voters here,” said Chheda. “We know as well today as we did when we started that our democracy is threatened and we need to return the power to the people.”
More information about the lawsuit and campaign can be found at the Fair Elections Project website at fairelectionsproject.org, at Facebook.com/wifairelections, and on Twitter at @WIFairElections and @FairElections.
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