CHAPTER 4
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY DISTRICTS
SUBCHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
4.001 Legislative redistricting; equal population.
4.003 Description of boundaries.
4.004 Elections to the legislature.
4.005 Territory omitted from legislative redistricting.
Ch. 4 Note
NOTE: The apportionment plan of legislative districts enacted in
1983 Wis. Act 29 was held unconstitutional in Prosser et al. v. Elections Board et al., 793 F Supp. 859 (W.D. Wis. 1992). The 3-judge federal panel created a judicial plan of apportionment for all elections held after June 2, 1992. The judicial plan is printed following s. 4.005. The unconstitutional ss. 4.009 to 4.99 are printed in small type following the judicial plan maps.
GENERAL PROVISIONS
4.001
4.001
Legislative redistricting; equal population. 4.001(1)(1) Based on the certified official results of the 1980 census of population of Wisconsin, as received by this state from the U.S. bureau of the census on March 23, 1981, under
P.L. 94-171, the state is divided into 33 senate districts each composed of 3 assembly districts. Each senate district shall be entitled to elect one member of the senate. Each assembly district shall be entitled to elect one representative to the assembly.
4.001(2)
(2) All senate districts, and all assembly districts, are as equal in the number of inhabitants as practicable within the guidelines further set forth in this section. Because the certified total number of inhabitants of this state on the 1980 census date was 4,705,521, each of the 33 senate districts contains approximately 142,592 inhabitants and each of the 99 assembly districts contains approximately 47,531 inhabitants.
4.001(3)
(3) In redistricting the state based on the 1980 census of population, the legislature has assigned the highest priority to achieving the constitutionally mandated goal of precise population equality among the districts, resulting in an assembly deviation range of 1.72 percent (high assembly district plus 0.87 percent, low assembly district minus 0.85 percent) and a senate deviation range of 1.05 percent (high senate district plus 0.38 percent, low senate district minus 0.67 percent). To the very limited extent that precise population equality is unattainable,
ss. 4.009 and
4.01 to
4.99 reflect a good faith effort to apportion the legislature giving due consideration to the need for contiguity and compactness of area, the maintenance of the integrity of political subdivisions and of communities of interest, and competitive legislative districts. Island territory (territory belonging to a city, town or village but not contiguous to the main part thereof) has been treated as a contiguous part of its municipality.
4.001(4)
(4) The enactment of the redistricting based on the 1980 census of population reflects the legislature's recognition of its responsibility under the constitution to district anew the senate and assembly after every decennial federal census of population. When the legislature and governor did not fulfill that responsibility in 1982, a federal district court promulgated legislative districts to "be effective for the 1982 legislative elections and thereafter until such time as a valid constitutional redistricting plan is enacted into law". In enacting
ss. 4.009 and
4.01 to
4.99, the legislature has worked from the court plan and, consistent with the policy of the state expressed in
sub. (3), has improved upon it. The resulting senate and assembly districts closely approximate the goal of precise population equality among districts, appropriately divide political subdivisions, and create the lowest population deviation in the history of legislative redistricting in this state.
4.001(5)
(5) In enacting
ss. 4.009 and
4.01 to
4.99, the legislature and its members recognize the obligation imposed by their constitutional oath of office to represent the interests of the citizens who elected them and all of the other citizens of the state of Wisconsin. The legislative districts based on the 1980 census of population reflects the legislature's intent to enact a plan of reapportionment that encourages competitive elections, in order to promote a healthy democratic process which accurately reflects the will of the citizens of the state of Wisconsin.
4.001 History
History:
1983 a. 29,
192.
4.001 Note
NOTE: The apportionment plan of legislative districts enacted in
1983 Wis. Act 29 was held unconstitutional in Prosser et al. v. Elections Board et al., 793 F Supp. 859 (W.D. Wis. 1992). The 3-judge federal panel created a judicial plan of apportionment for all elections held after June 2, 1992. The plan, which is printed following s. 4.005, is based on the 1990 federal census of population of Wisconsin. Because the certified statewide number of inhabitants was 4,891,769, each of the 33 senate districts contains approximately 148,235 inhabitants and each of the 99 assembly districts contains approximately 49,412 inhabitants.
4.002
4.002
Municipal wards. 4.002(1)(1)
Definition. Except as further provided in this section, in this chapter "ward" means the municipal wards created under
s. 5.15 based on the results of the 1980 federal census of population and in effect on January 1, 1982.
4.002(2)
(2) Milwaukee, city of. Any reference to a ward of the city of Milwaukee means the wards created by ordinance 142 dated November 17, 1981 (file number 80-1517-D), as affected by the elections commission adjustments of August 1982.
4.002(3)
(3) Oshkosh, city of. Ward 42 of the city of Oshkosh includes the annexation from the town of Algoma.
4.002 History
History:
1983 a. 29.
4.002 Note
NOTE: The apportionment plan of legislative districts enacted in
1983 Wis. Act 29 was held unconstitutional in Prosser et al. v. Elections Board et al., 793 F Supp. 859 (W.D. Wis. 1992). The 3-judge federal panel created a judicial plan of apportionment for all elections held after June 2, 1992. The plan, which is printed following s. 4.005, is based on the 1990 federal census of population of Wisconsin. The plan used wards created under s. 5.15 based on the results of the 1990 census, within the municipal boundaries in effect on August 1, 1991.
4.003
4.003
Description of boundaries. Wherever in this chapter territory is described by geographic boundaries, the following conventions are used:
4.003(1)
(1) Each bound continues to the intersection with the bound next named, or to the intersection with a straight-line extension of such bound.
4.003(2)
(2) If the bound is a street, it follows the centerline of such street or the centerline of such street extended.
4.003(3)
(3) If the bound is a railroad right-of-way, it follows the centerline of such railroad right-of-way.
4.003(4)
(4) If the bound is a river or stream, it follows the center of the main channel of such river or stream.
4.003(5)
(5) If the bound follows a municipal boundary, it coincides with such boundary.
4.003 History
History:
1983 a. 29.
4.004
4.004
Elections to the legislature. On or after July 20, 1983, any special election to the legislature called to fill a vacancy for the balance of an unexpired term, any election to recall a member of the legislature, and any regular election to the legislature, shall be from the districts as described in
ss. 4.009 and
4.01 to
4.99.
4.004 History
History:
1983 a. 29.
4.004 Note
NOTE: The apportionment plan of legislative districts enacted in
1983 Wis. Act 29 was held unconstitutional in Prosser et al. v. Elections Board et al., 793 F Supp. 859 (W.D. Wis. 1992). The 3-judge federal panel created a judicial plan of apportionment for all elections held after June 2, 1992. The plan is printed following s. 4.005.
4.005
4.005
Territory omitted from legislative redistricting. 4.005(1)(1) In case any town, village or ward in existence on the effective date of a legislative redistricting act has not been included in any assembly district, such town, village or ward shall be a part of the assembly district by which it is surrounded or, if it falls on the boundary between 2 or more districts, of the adjacent assembly district having the lowest population according to the federal census upon which the redistricting act is based.
4.005(2)
(2) The boundaries of legislative districts established by this chapter are not altered by any change in the county boundaries under
ch. 2, by the creation of any town, village, city or ward or by any municipal annexation, consolidation or detachment.
4.005 History
History:
1983 a. 29.
4.00
JUDICIAL PLAN
The apportionment plan of legislative districts enacted in
1983 Wisconsin Act 29 was held unconstitutional in Prosser et al. v. Elections Board et al., Civil Action 92-C-0078-C (W.D. Wis. 1992). The 3-judge federal panel created the following judicial plan of apportionment for all elections held after June 2, 1992:
SENATE DISTRICTS
First senate district. The combination of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd assembly districts.
Second senate district. The combination of the 4th, 5th and 6th assembly districts.
Third senate district. The combination of the 7th, 8th and 9th assembly districts.
Fourth senate district. The combination of the 10th, 11th and 12th assembly districts.
Fifth senate district. The combination of the 13th, 14th and 15th assembly districts.
Sixth senate district. The combination of the 16th, 17th and 18th assembly districts.
Seventh Senate District. The combination of the 19th, 20th and 21st assembly districts.
Eighth senate district. The combination of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th assembly districts.
Ninth senate district. The combination of the 25th, 26th and 27th assembly districts.
Tenth senate district. The combination of the 28th, 29th and 30th assembly districts.
Eleventh senate district. The combination of the 31st, 32nd and 33rd assembly districts.
Twelfth senate district. The combination of the 34th, 35th and 36th assembly districts.
Thirteenth senate district. The combination of the 37th, 38th and 39th assembly districts.
Fourteenth senate district. The combination of the 40th, 41st and 42nd assembly districts.
