As promised, Gov. Evers vetoes GOP maps setting up court battle to draw new districts

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MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- As expected, Governor Tony Evers has vetoed Republicans' redistricting plans, a move that now sets up a court battle to determine what voting districts will look like for the next decade.

Gov. Evers followed through on his promise to veto the GOP maps that largely keep in place current legislative and congressional district lines that benefit them.

With the stroke of Evers' pen, the redistricting battle now heads to the courts, where they are expected to draw new maps.

"The gerrymander maps Republicans passed a decade ago have enabled Legislature to safely ignore the people who elected them, and these maps here are more of the same gerrymandering 2.0," Evers said in a Twitter post.

There are lawsuits pending in both the Wisconsin Supreme Court and federal court.

Republicans and Democrats anticipated the issue to end up in court and both filed lawsuits before any maps were drawn.

Justices on the state Supreme Court said they will issue a decision by the end of the month, where they could either make minor or major changes to the current maps in place.

Republicans want the court to make as few changes as possible, which would help them maintain control in legislative and congressional districts.

Democrats have asked the justices to make significant changes because they argue the current maps are unfair.

Sachin Chheda, director of the Fair Elections Project, said he hopes the courts will listen to Wisconsin voters who support fair representation across the state.

"What I'm hopeful will happen is the courts will see this debate between really highly partisan maps and a nonpartisan process and take out of the politics of this to draw a map that's fair," Chheda said.

GOP leaders declined to respond to the governor's vetoes.

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