Beyond Partisanship: Defining Neutral Standards for Electoral Maps 2025

  • OnDemand seminar
Up to 6.0 Credit Hours
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Beyond Partisanship: Defining Neutral Standards for Electoral Maps 2025

Co-produced with Concerned Citizens for Democracy

Map time

Redistricting plays a critical role in representative democracy. But when partisan motives influence how districts are drawn, the legitimacy of the process can be called into question. As states wrestle with how electoral maps are drawn and evaluated, the need for effective standards to ensure equitable representation has become more urgent.

A fair shake

Get a comprehensive, balanced view of what it means to pursue redistricting neutrality from national authorities in election law, redistricting litigation, and data science at Beyond Partisanship: Defining Neutral Standards for Electoral Maps.

8:30 am
The uses of computational redistricting

Nicholas Stephanopoulos

  • Background on computational redistricting (how it works, why it's used)
  • Applications to litigation: partisan gerrymandering (Rucho), racial vote dilution (Milligan), racial gerrymandering (Alexander)
  • Academic findings
9:00 am
The legal bases and standards for redistricting under Wisconsin law and the courts’ application

Douglas Poland

  • Constitutional and statutory grounds and structure for redistricting under Wisconsin and pertinent federal law
  • Standards that state and federal courts in Wisconsin have applied in redistricting actions since the one person one vote revolution in the 1960s
  • Historical application of the legal standards in redistricting actions since the 1960s and the outcome of those actions
9:30 am
Race and Redistricting: balancing what is mandated, what is permitted, and what is prohibited

T.R. Edwards

  • how the definition (and the inherent challenges) of communities of interest continues to develop
  • the effect of the Cooper v. Harris decision on state actions, like Johnson v. WEC
  • how we balanced concerns in Clarke v. WEC
  • how practitioners can and should involve community stakeholders in their work
10:00 am
Partisan gerrymandering in the States after Rucho

Misha Tseytlin

  • Reviews state court decisions after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Rucho decision on partisan gerrymandering at the federal level
  • Highlights major state-level rulings
  • Explores expect trends going forward at the state level
10:30 am
Break
10:45 am
The PA Supreme Court’s key decisions adopting and implementing judicially manageable standards for redistricting

Howie Wiener

  • a detailed look at Carter v Chapman (PA 2022) and League of Women Voters v. Pennsylvania (PA 2018)
  • the Court’s reliance on PA Constitutional provisions, not federal law
  • possible implications for upcoming redistricting battles in Wisconsin
11:15 am
The good, the bad, the ugly: Redistricting commissions in the 2021 cycle

Zachariah Sippy

  • The performance of a map can be rigorously evaluated from past data, including fairness and competitiveness.
  • Every state has laws and procedures for redistricting.
  • The fairest and most competitive maps arise from independent citizen commissions with full autonomy.
  • State courts may intervene by using provisions of their state constitution to define gerrymandering offenses.
12:15 pm
Lunch (on your own)
1:15 pm
Why compact districts matter

Brian Gordon

  • Discuss why compact districts matter for democracy
  • Analyze how compacts districts help detect partisan gerrymandering
  • Evaluate when compact districts are effective to promote partisan fairness
  • Proving partisan intent
1:45 pm
Measure of partisan bias

John Nagle

  • Different metrics agree for purple WI
  • Use of much past election data enables high precision, better than 1%
  • The 2022 WI congressional plan is highly biased, the legislative plans much less so
2:15 pm
The Totality of the Circumstances: Tradeoffs and Symbioses Amongst Neutral Redistricting Criteria

Anne Hanna

  • Types of neutral mapping criteria
  • Examples of tradeoffs, symbioses, and mixed interactions amongst neutral criteria
  • Judicially manageable standards through balancing of neutral criteria
  • Detection of partisan manipulation via imbalances between partisan and neutral criteria
  • Quantifying criteria balancing using Pareto frontiers
2:45 pm
Program Concludes

  • Hear diverse perspectives on redistricting from national authorities on election law and data science
  • Review legal challenges to alleged partisan gerrymandering at the federal level, including key U.S. Supreme Court rulings
  • Gain practical tools for assessing and critiquing electoral maps using traditional redistricting criteria and advanced quantitative methods
  • Evaluate the structural factors that support or hinder state redistricting commissions
  • Learn how state-level strategies and court decisions can facilitate more representative electoral maps
  • Contribute to the advancement of fair representation and functional democracy at the local, state, or national level
  • Constitutional lawyers
  • Government lawyers
  • Civil rights lawyers
  • Election lawyers
  • Public interest lawyers
  • General practitioners
  • Law students
  • Paralegals
  • Anyone interested in election law

Book Bonus!

Wisconsin Municipal Law Codebook 2025: Cities, Towns, and Villages
Save 15% on Wisconsin Municipal Law Codebook 2025: Cities, Towns, and Villages.* This compilation of key Wisconsin statutes and administrative rules is an essential resource for handling legal matters that involve local governments. Use discount code CA3843 when you order online or by calling (800) 728-7788.

*Discount applies to the 2025 edition of this title and cannot be applied to previous purchases. Offer valid through 12/31/26. Discount cannot be combined with any other offers.

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