skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

More than 160 people still missing after deadly Texas floods, governor says; Ohio small businesses seek clarity as Congress weighs federal ownership reporting rule; Hoosiers' medical bills under state review; Survey: Gen Z teens don't know their options after high school; Rural Iowa farmers diversify crops for future success.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

USDA, DHS Secretaries collaborate on a National Farm Security Action Plan. Health advocates worry about the budget megabill's impacts, and Prime Minister Netanyahu nominates President Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Farmers may abandon successful conservation programs if federal financial chaos continues, a rural electric cooperative in Southwest Colorado is going independent to shrink customer costs, and LGBTQ+ teens say an online shoulder helps more than community support.

Wisconsin Voting Districts May Change Before the Presidential Election

play audio
Play

Wednesday, May 4, 2016   

MADISON, Wis. - A suit brought by 12 Wisconsin Democrats saying the state's legislative district map drawn by Republicans in 2011 is unfair is going to trial this month. A three-judge federal panel unanimously ruled the case should proceed.

New maps are drawn every 10 years following the census, and Democrats contend the maps were drawn to give Republicans, who were in power at the time, an unfair advantage.

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said the maps are rigged and make no sense.

"Some cities in Wisconsin, some small cities, relatively small -- Sheboygan, Beloit, others -- have as many as two or even three state assembly districts," he said. "They've been carved up, and that just doesn't make any sense, according to a lot of experts."

Republicans have said the maps are fair, contending that Democrats tend to live in more urban areas of the state and thus are packed into smaller districts. They are confident the judges will uphold the maps.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said maps can be so partisan that they violate voters' rights, but the justices haven't been able to agree on a standard for deciding whether maps are gerrymandered or not.

The Democrats who brought the suit have proposed a test the courts can use to determine if the maps are unfair, but Republicans say the suggested standard is not a good way to determine that. Heck said that's just one of the critical decisions the three-judge panel will make.

"It may decide that there has to be a different criteria for drawing district lines that don't include hyperpartisanship, secrecy, the lack of transparency and all the other things that made the 2011 redistricting process so contentious," he said.

If the panel throws out the existing political map, Heck said, it could order that a different and supposedly more fair map be drawn and implemented before the presidential election in November. Heck said the basic concept of one person, one vote, is at stake.

"It's really your choice. It's really all about what kind of a choice you're actually even going to have to consider when you go into the ballot box," he said. "Competitive elections are more interesting, they stimulate higher turnout, and they make legislators more responsive if they know they could get beat."

The present map is online at maps.legis.wisconsin.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The Trump administration considers programs focusing on any facet of diversity, equity or inclusion to be a violation of federal anti-discrimination law. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The Trump administration has made it clear it will cut funding from schools continuing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and with record …


Social Issues

play sound

Among the hundreds of pages making up the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act" just signed into law is a requirement some people must work to receive Medicaid…

Health and Wellness

play sound

After a legislative session which opened doors to expand mental health care services across Montana, a state commission said it is considering the …


The recommended ratio of students to counselors is 250 to 1, Washington is over that at 363 to 1. (Christoph Burgstedt/Adobe Stock)

play sound

Most Gen Z high school students and their parents are unaware of the range of options available to kids after graduation, according to a new survey…

Environment

play sound

By Carolyn Beans for Lancaster Farming.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Keystone State News Connection reporting for the Lancaster Farming-MIT…

More than 85% of the land in Iowa is dedicated to farming. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

Iowa is the nation's number one corn and soybean producer and federal polices are designed to keep it that way but more farmers are moving away from t…

Health and Wellness

play sound

By Marilyn Odendahl for The Indiana Citizen.Broadcast version by Joe Ulery for Indiana News Service reporting for the Indiana Citizen-Free Press India…

Social Issues

play sound

The Wyoming Historic Preservation Office is a state office born from the National Historic Preservation Act, a federal law. After a three-month …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021