Big changes to recall process after right-to-work vote enrage Michigan Democrats

[dragonlady]

20. Here is what happened in Wisconsin

The Republican majority in the legislature hired an outside law firm (Reince Priebus's firm, in fact) to draw up the districts in secret, without Democrats' input. They cleverly made districts so that, for example, Democrats would be making up an 80% majority in one district but not be able to help in a district next door where a Republican could win with 51%. The districts were designed to withstand legal challenge because they have almost exactly the same populations and are acceptable as to the rights of minorities. These maps were challenged in federal court but the court found they met constitutional requirements except for one pair of districts that were changed to improve the prospects for Latinos.

One of our Democratic legislators has been advocating for years to change the law and set up an impartial panel to do the redistricting (like in Iowa) but that never went anywhere.