Good morning. 
Wednesday sees the beginning of Fall in Whitewater with mostly sunny skies and a high of 65. Sunrise is 6:43 AM and sunset 6:50 PM for 12h 07m 22s of daytime. The moon is a waning gibbous with 97.7% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1862, Pres. Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, to take effect January 1, 1863.
Riley Vetterkind reports Federal court indicates it wants Wisconsin’s new political maps in place by March:
A federal judicial panel on Tuesday indicated it wants Wisconsin’s new political maps in place by March 1, calling for the completion of a potential redistricting trial by the end of January as lawmakers work to draw the new decennial legislative and congressional district boundaries.
U.S. District Judge James Peterson and two other federal judges on a panel signaled they think maps should be in place by March 1 in order for candidates to begin circulating nomination papers by April 15. The new maps would then be used for legislative and congressional candidates in an August 2022 primary election.
The judicial panel called for the attorneys representing the parties in the case — chiefly the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Tony Evers, who together are responsible for passing new political maps, along with Democratic voters, activist groups and GOP congressmen — to come up with a schedule to complete a trial by the end of January in order to have maps in place by March 1.
March 15 is the statutory deadline for the Wisconsin Elections Commission to notify county clerks of which offices will be voted on in the November 2022 election and where information on district boundaries can be found.
The trial, however, likely wouldn’t need to occur if the GOP-controlled Legislature and governor pass a set of legislative and congressional maps before then. Peterson, however, noted that is unlikely.
“If history is any guide, to put it mildly, there’s at least a substantial likelihood that divided government in the state of Wisconsin will have trouble, as it has in the past, drawing its own maps,” Peterson said.
Peterson told the parties in the case that a trial needs to be finished by the end of January in order for the court to render a decision by March 1, though the panel said it would entertain motions arguing that the deadline could be extended later.
….
At Tuesday’s hearing, an attorney for the Republican-controlled Legislature gave little indication of when it would pass a set of maps to send to the governor. He said GOP lawmakers are considering appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the redistricting case.
Evers has created his own People’s Maps Commission, which expects to produce a set of alternative maps by mid-October for the Legislature’s and court’s consideration.
The WISGOP will do all it can to get this case dismissed from federal court, thereafter to seek recourse in state court.
[…] Daily Bread for 9.22.21: New Political Maps for Wisconsin by March? […]