OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to clarify which legislative district boundary lines should be used for a potential recall election sought by supporters of former President Donald Trump who are targeting the Republican Assembly speaker.
An attempt to recall Speaker Robin Vos has failed to obtain sufficient valid signatures to trigger an election. However, the Wisconsin Elections Commission requested the Supreme Court to provide clarity on the maps that should be used in case of any recall or special election that takes place before November, when new maps come into effect, The Associated Press reported.
In a unanimous order, the court highlighted that in December, it had determined that the legislative maps then in use were unconstitutional and prohibited their future utilization. Subsequently, in February, Democratic Governor Tony Evers signed into law maps that he had proposed and which the Republican-controlled Legislature had passed, the AP added.
These are the maps that will take effect in November. The court’s order leaves unanswered the question of which maps are applicable for any election occurring before November.
“We decline to further clarify or amend the opinion and order,” the court said, referring to its December ruling.
The state high court further noted that the Wisconsin Elections Commission, not the Supreme Court, is responsible for administering elections.
The AP added:
The next move will be up to the commission, which faces an April 11 deadline to determine whether the recall petition had sufficient signatures to trigger an election. Its decision can be appealed in court.
Commission spokesperson Riley Vetterkind had no comment on the court’s order.
The commission conducted an initial review and found that there weren’t enough valid signatures from residents of the district that Vos was elected to represent. However, Vos’ district lines are changing under legislative maps that will come into effect in November.
Vos is facing a recall effort because he declined to pursue the impeachment of the state’s top elections official or to proceed with attempts to decertify President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in Wisconsin — actions that angered Trump, who accused Vos of concealing election corruption.
Subsequently, Trump’s supporters launched an unsuccessful primary challenge in 2022 and are currently attempting to initiate a recall election.
Meanwhile, the former president is trailing Biden in Wisconsin but is leading him in six other swing states, according to recent polling.
A CNN segment on Tuesday pointed out that Biden is behind former President Donald Trump in six of seven swing states—Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia—while Biden leads by three points in Wisconsin.
Trump is also leading Biden on issues that are also the biggest concerns for voters this cycle.
“Look at the why: what is going on? Alright, trusted more, again, this is across all of these key seven swing states,” CNN political analyst Harry Enten said.
“Look, Donald Trump is trusted more than Joe Biden in basically all the important issues — the economy, inflation, 20-point lead, immigration, border, 20-point lead, the Israel-Hamas war, 14-point lead, the Russia-Ukraine war, nine-point lead, protecting democracy, well within the margin of error, which I think is something the that should worry that Biden camp, given that has been harping and Democrats been harping on this,” Enten continued. “Just a one-point advantage.
“On abortion, Democrats and Joe Biden have a 12-point advantage. They would love this campaign to be about abortion, but at this particular point, it‘s about this. And it‘s about this with perhaps a little bit of this,” Enten said, pointing out the main concerns of voters, “and all these issues favor Donald Trump.”
The host pointed out that Democrats and Biden have been “running on protecting democracy, and that’s a wash right now.”
“It is a Wash. And this is not the only poll that shows… was looking at a Quinnipiac University poll last month, last week, excuse me, that showed the same thing,” Enten said. “And it‘s something that RFK Jr. said to our colleague, Erin Burnett, saying, I‘m not quite sure — Joe Biden may be worse for protecting democracy. It turns out a lot of voters agree on that.”
