On March 22, the Minnesota Supreme Court granted the plaintiff’s request in Wattson v. Simon to appoint a special redistricting panel for redistricting in the state in anticipation of the legislature failing to enact maps in time for upcoming elections. Read the original complaint. Read the court’s order. Learn more.
While the court agreed to appoint a panel at some point in the future, it delayed doing so and stayed all further proceedings until the legislature has had time to enact maps. This year’s regular session of the Minnesota legislature is scheduled to end in late May. The court also received a friendly request to intervene from several Republican party-affiliated plaintiffs on March 15.
Census population estimates project Minnesota will lose one congressional seat. the deadline for drawing redistricting plans is February 15, 2022. The legislature has failed to agree on a redistricting map for several decades.
