The Wisconsin Supreme Court listens to arguments from Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Anthony D. Russomanno, representing Gov. Tony Evers, during a redistricting hearing at the state Capitol, Nov. 21, 2023, in Madison, Wis. (Ruthie Hauge / The Capital Times via AP, Pool, File)

Crucial battles over abortion, gerrymandering, voting rights and other issues will take center stage in next year’s elections for state supreme court seats — 80 of them in 33 states.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

While the map set to take effect in time for the next round of municipal elections in 2023 has been the subject of more public scrutiny than any other revised map in Chicago’s history, it still allows incumbent alderpeople to pick their own voters and punish their enemies.

(WTTW News)

If approved at a special City Council meeting set for 11:30 a.m. Monday, the map will be the second major piece of legislation that would have failed to pass without the support of some of the City Council’s most progressive members.

(WTTW News)
Chicago city council members say that — after a lot of haggling — they have an agreement on a new ward map. This means there are likely 41 votes in council to confirm what the wards will look like for the next ten years, and it will not be put to the voters in a public election. But some good government groups have blasted the proposal as another typical backroom deal.
Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

To avert the first ward map referendum since 1992, 41 alderpeople must agree on a map no later than May 19, the deadline for the June 28 primary election ballot to be finalized.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

To avert the first ward map referendum since 1992, 41 alderpeople must agree on a map no later than May 19, the deadline for the June 28 primary election ballot to be finalized.

(WTTW News)

Leaders of the groups that successfully pushed Chicago elected leaders to support a map that redraws the 11th Ward to include a majority of Asian American voters warned members of the City Council that asking voters to decide the boundaries of the city’s 50 wards “fans the flames of racial division.”

Members of the Ohio Senate Government Oversight Committee hear testimony on a new map of state congressional districts in this file photo from Nov. 16, 2021, at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo / Julie Carr Smyth, File)

As the once-a-decade scramble to draw new legislative lines, a process known as redistricting, nears its conclusion, Democrats have succeeded in shifting the congressional map to the left. But all that could change.

Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward) looks on while filing the map supported by the Chicago City Council's Black Caucus with the Chicago City Clerk's office on Tuesday, March 15. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)

Thirty-three alderpeople currently support the ward map backed by the Black Caucus — eight short of the votes needed to avert a referendum in June. 

(WTTW News)

The map crafted by the Chicago Ward Advisory Redistricting Commission failed to win the support of a single alderperson after nearly a year of work.

Members of the Chicago City Council's Latino Caucus arrive Sunday to negotiate a new ward map for Chicago. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)

The session failed to resolve the central issue at the heart of the debate that will determine the balance of political power between Black, Latino and Asian Chicagoans. 

A new Chicago ward map is set to take effect in time for the 2023 municipal elections. (WTTW News via Google Maps)

The meeting will include three members of the City Council’s Black Caucus, three members of the Latino Caucus and three other members of the City Council. Harris, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s floor leader, is a member of the Black Caucus.

A new Chicago ward map is set to take effect in time for the 2023 municipal elections. (WTTW News via Google Maps)

The likelihood that the June 28 primary election ballot will ask voters to decide what Chicago ward map should look like for the first time in 30 years increased this past week as the acrimony between the Black and Latino caucuses over the map escalated. 

A new Chicago ward map is set to take effect in time for the 2023 municipal elections. (WTTW News via Google Maps)

Any hope that a holiday break could reset the raging dispute over the map that will shape Chicago politics for the next decade and determine the balance of power between Black, Latino and Asian Chicagoans was extinguished Friday as members of the City Council clashed during the first of four public hearings scheduled this month.

Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward) carries the map crafted by the City Council's Latino Caucus into the city clerk's office Thursday, Dec. 2, 2020. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)

By filing the map crafted by the Chicago Latino Caucus with the city clerk’s office, the alderpeople ensured that the June 28 primary election ballot could ask voters to decide what the ward map should look like for the first time in 30 years.

A proposed Chicago Ward Map from the Chicago City Council's Black Caucus. (Provided)

The City Council met briefly Wednesday afternoon, allowing Rules Committee Chair Ald. Michelle Harris (8th Ward) an opportunity to unveil the map drawn behind closed doors and supported by the City Council’s Black Caucus.