A must read 7/23/17 Wisconsin State Journal .... Evidence of republicans rigging the state [View all]

Democrats' short-lived 2012 recall victory led to key evidence in partisan gerrymandering case


http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/democrats-short-lived-recall-victory-led-to-key-evidence-in/article_d5cfb956-6e93-5c81-8403-050493b5412e.html


Lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the case, Gill v. Whitford, say the short-lived majority allowed Democrats to force the Legislature's private lawyers to cough up documents, leading to a court-ordered release of computer hard drives with deleted spreadsheets.

The story, pieced together from court documents and new interviews, of how an otherwise meaningless transfer of power could potentially overturn the centuries-old practice of political gerrymandering in the United States is a reminder that in politics even the little victories matter.

snip


Among the documents were the secrecy pledges Republican senators signed to review their district maps, strict rules for anyone entering the map room and talking points about the significance of the redrawn maps. There was also a print-out of a spreadsheet showing the partisan effect of the final map, but Earle said the document only told a partial story.

snip

Forensic investigator Mark Lanterman, a former U.S. Secret Service official, testified that his review of the hard drives found evidence that hundreds of thousands of files had been deleted — many in the week before the files were turned over to Miller's office.