Frederica Freyberg:

Back at the state Capitol, Governor Tony Evers did as promised and vetoed the maps Republicans passed in the latest round of redistricting. In his veto message, he called the maps, “gerrymandering 2.0.” The GOP maps would largely maintain existing district boundaries. Boundaries which saw Republican majorities in the legislature for the past ten years. The maps will now have to be sorted out in court ahead of the 2022 elections. And we learned this week that the state Supreme Court plans to weigh in on the dispute over the state’s voting maps. The conservative majority court has set aside a tentative hearing date in January. At the same time, Republican candidate for governor Rebecca Kleefisch is asking the high court to take up her lawsuit against Wisconsin election commissioners. The suit asks the court to declare illegal the Wisconsin Elections Commission guidance allowing ballot drop boxes, nursing home poll workers and consolidated polling places. The justices last year said challenges to voting practices should be made before elections, not after. The court has not yet ruled whether to take the case.