Stop Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering Must Stop

Wisconsin Deserves Fair and Competitive Districts

The time has long passed to correct and redraw Wisconsin’s partisan gerrymandered legislative and congressional districts. 

A coalition of groups have created a movement in Wisconsin urging the adoption of a non-partisan commission that would be charged with redrawing these district lines to make them equal and competitive. So far, they have convinced 39 Wisconsin county boards representing over 77 percent of Wisconsin citizens to pass resolutions demanding that the legislature adopt such a system. Eight counties have passed referenda urging the same result. 

Washington County is not among those supporting the fair maps campaign and that needs to change. 

A recent Marquette University Law School poll shows that 72 percent of Wisconsin citizens want to ban gerrymandering. That included 63 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Independents. This is not a partisan issue.

Governor Evers has proposed, as part of his new budget, having the state’s non-partisan Legislative Reference Bureau redraw the maps after each census under the supervision of a bi-partisan Redistricting Advisory Commission. Those drawing the lines would not be allowed to use political demographic data and would be required to follow strict guidelines to ensure fair and competitive districts. 

Wisconsin voters should be choosing who gets to represent them in the halls of Congress and the state legislature. Under the current system, Wisconsin republicans set up districts that do just the opposite. Those in power now get to choose their voters having drawn districts stacked with republican voters and crammed democratic voters in to smaller, more disbursed districts that isolated them into smaller voting blocs. 

The process used by the GOP legislature was clouded in secrecy when the maps were drawn in the offices of a private law firm hired by the legislative leadership. Normally, legislative committees draw the maps in public sessions open to all.  Democratic legislators and even members of the GOP not in leadership positions were excluded from the process. Republican pollsters and demographic mapping specialists were hired to maximize each republican district into a stronghold with solidly republican voters in significant majorities ensuring continued republican representation. 

Some of the groups in the Fair Maps Coalition brought suit against the gerrymandered districts and won favorable decisions in the lower Federal courts that considered their claims. On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped the main issue, are the maps fair and competitive, by sending the case back to the lower courts for the plaintiffs to make a showing of individualized harm. The case is far from over and is sure to come back before the high court. 

As the litigation continued, the GOP legislative leadership intervened in the case supporting the maps they drew. When the plaintiffs sought to question Assembly leader Robin Vos, he declined claiming legislative immunity from suit. Vos lost any immunity he might have had by joining the lawsuit and now must submit to questioning from the plaintiffs about the secret process he used to create the maps.

Wisconsin voters have the ability to demand fair maps and competitive districts. They can petition their county boards and city and village governments to pass resolutions demanding their legislators pass new laws adopting non-partisan commission models or supporting Governor Evers budget proposal. We can and should call and write to our legislative representatives directly to demand this change. 

You can find out more about this issue at www.fairelectionsproject.org/fair-maps-wi/