2021 WI Assembly Map Drawing Contest
Rules
THE GOAL: Creation of Wisconsin State Assembly draft maps of quality for submission to the People’s Maps Commission.
COMPETITION COORDINATOR: Western Wisconsin for Non-Partisan Voting Districts (WWNVD)
A member of the WI Fair Maps Coalition, WWNVD aims to end partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin. WWNVD is a project of Pierce County GrassRoots Organizing (PCGRO).
COMPETITION HOST: Entries MUST use the free web app DRA 2020. WWNVD has no control over the functionality of the DRA 2020 platform, and therefore is not liable for any malfunctions, loss of data, outages, or any other mishaps that may occur on this external platform.
MAP SETTINGS & DATA SELECTION: The following Map Settings MUST be used to guarantee uniformity in contestant maps:
Name: (your choice),
State: Wisconsin,
Shapes: 2020 Precincts,
Plan Type: State House,
District Count: 99,
Primary Datasets selected MUST be set at:
Shapes: 2020 Precincts,
Census: Latest Total Population,
Voting Age: Latest Voting Age Pop,
Election: Composite 2016 – 2020.
ENTRY PERIOD: The competition opens May 1, 2021. The deadline for submission is Saturday, July 31, 2021at 11:59 p.m (CDT). The committee reserves the right to extend the deadline if unforeseen circumstances come up.
ENTER IN ONLY ONE OF TWO DIVISIONS:
Youth: Ages 13 – 18. Youth entries (and teams) must designate an adult to receive prizes.
Open: Ages 13 and over. If a youth submits an entry in the open division, they are then ineligible to enter in the youth division.
In either division, under 13 could be associate members, but not full members.
PRIZE ELIGIBILITY:
This contest is intended for residents of the United States. Any non-resident of the U.S. is not eligible to win prizes. Members of WWNVD team, contest directors and members of their immediate families and owners and staff members of Dave’s Redistricting App which designed DRA 2020 are not eligible to win prizes.
HOW TO SUBMIT A VALID ENTRY: Entries can come from either individuals or teams. Individuals and teams can submit multiple maps, without limit, with each being treated as a separate entry.
NARRATIVE GUIDELINES (Up to 250 words): Questions you may consider answering in your narrative include: Tell us about your process in drawing the map. How did you start your map? Was it started from scratch or did you use a “Starter” map, such as the official “State House Map” or one of the many other previously published Wisconsin Assembly maps on the DRA 2020 website or elsewhere. What were the guiding principles that you used for drawing and improving the map? Which objectives did you focus on first? What problems did you encounter? Was there any particular area of the map that was difficult to get right? What are the strengths of your map? Does it have any weaknesses?
ENTRY CRITERIA And JUDGING METRICS
Maps will be judged by Western Wisconsin for Non-partisan Voting Districts on purely quantitative criteria.
Entry Requirements for Validity: Failure to satisfy any of the four requirements shown below will render the submission invalid and it will NOT be eligible for judging or prizes.
Number of districts: A state assembly map must have 99 districts.
Completeness: All precincts must be assigned to districts.
Contiguity: Each individual district must be contiguous (every part of a district is connected to every other part, and all parts can be reached without crossing district lines). Common exceptions to this principle involve districts whose parts are separated by waterways, and districts defined by municipal boundaries that are themselves non-contiguous. Two pieces of territory joined at the corner are not considered contiguous. [DRA 2020 may not evaluate this requirement correctly. WWNVD will review any map that does not meet this requirement.]
Equal population: All assembly districts must not deviate from the ideal population (total population/99) by more than 5%. The ideal population for each district is estimated by the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey data to be 58,492, so the population of each district must fall between 55,567 and 61,417.
Judging Metrics: The quality of every valid map will be judged by the following five ratings provided by DRA 2020 Analytics. Prizes will be awarded in each division based on the following weighting scheme: county splitting (30%), compactness (20%), minority opportunity (20%), proportionality (20%), and competitiveness (10%). Ties in the weighted total of the metrics will be broken with the winner decided by lower population deviation as computed by DRA2020. If there are still ties, winner will be determined by coin flip. Due to possible changes in DRA rating calculations, the maps will be judged based on DRA ratings on July 31, 2021.
County Splitting by districts: DRA 2020 Splitting rating.
Compactness: DRA 2020 Compactness.
Minority Opportunity: DRA 2020 Minority rating.
Partisan Fairness: DRA 2020 Proportionality rating.
Competitiveness: DRA 2020 Competitiveness rating.
WINNERS AND PRIZES – YOUTH AND OPEN DIVISIONS
For each division, judges will award one first-place, one second-place and one third-place entry.
Prize Winners (each division): First Place $599 (Representing $500 + $1 for each district in WI Assembly)
Second Place $499
Third Place $399
WWNVD reserves the right to reapportion some of the prize money for either division to the other division if the total number of entries in the division is 10 or fewer. The amount to be reapportioned is up to the sole discretion of WWNVD.
If fewer than 3 entries are received in a division, number of prizes may be reduced.
The prize funds are direct gifts from members of WWNVD to winners.
REPORTING THE WINNERS:
Prize winners will be notified using the contact information provided on the entry form.
Western Wisconsin for Non-partisan Voting Districts will announce the winners on its website. Entering the competition constitutes consent to participate in media coverage. If winners are minors, WWNVD will seek express permission to share personal contact information with media.
The decisions of the WWNVD judging panels are final and binding as to all entrants.
All entrants agree that the coordinator, and coordinator’s authorized representatives, may use each entrant’s name and entry, without compensation, for purposes of announcing the winners and for promotion of the results of the competition and otherwise to promote the goal of the contest.
Further, each entrant agrees that the contest coordinator shall have all right to promote and use each entry, with or without attribution, into this competition to promote the creation of Wisconsin Assembly draft maps of quality for submission to the People’s Maps Commission.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
NO PAYMENT OR CONTRIBUTION IS REQUIRED TO ENTER
Individuals and members of teams must be 13 years or older to enter the contest.
If any winner is under the age of 18, to be certified as a winner and receive a prize, that person must submit written consent from a parent or authorized guardian.
Each team entry must have one person designated as the Team Leader. Place this person’s name first in the list of team members when submitting a map. Should a team be picked as a winner, the Team Lead will be awarded the prize by the coordinator. It is up to the team to determine if and how to share the prize. coordinator shall have no role or responsibility of any kind for determining how any Team awarded a prize decides to share or use the prize. The only responsibility of the coordinator is to award the prize to the individual identified as the Team Leader.
By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees to abide by all of the Competition Rules and the determinations of the judging panels in all regards and warrants and agrees that nothing in the entry is illegally obtained or otherwise violates any federal or state laws or regulations. Further, by submitting an entry, each entrant warrants that only the entrant or entrants identified in the entry has worked on the preparation of the entry.
MISCELLANEOUS REQUIREMENTS:
Before being awarded any prize, proof of identity, age, and parent or guardian consent, if applicable, will be required. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in disqualification. All such documents shall be deliverable within ten (10) business days of notification. Digital submission is absolutely required. If these requirements are not met, an alternative winning entry will be chosen until a qualifying winning entry meeting all of the requirements specified in the Competition Rules is chosen.
Each entrant is responsible for any federal, state or local taxes that may be due on any prizes awarded.
RELEASE AND INDEMNIFICATION
By applying to enter and entering the Competition and/or accepting any Prize, entrant acknowledges and agrees that coordinator, and its officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents (collectively, the “Released Parties”) will not be liable for any claims, losses, liabilities, damages (including, without limitation, personal injury or property damage), or any related costs and expenses (including, without limitation, legal fees and disbursements and costs of investigation, litigation, settlement, judgment, interest, and penalties) (“Losses”) arising from, related to, or connected in any way with any loss or personal injury, including, without limitation, death, sustained by entrant, or any person or entity claiming on behalf of entrant, arising from, relating to, or connected in any way with entrant’s entry or participation in the Competition or recognition events, winning of any Prize, or use of any Prize, even in the event of negligence or fault of any of the Released Parties. Entrant assumes full responsibility for any Losses which may occur to entrant, or any person or entity claiming on behalf of entrant, arising from, relating to, or connected in any way with entrant’s participation in the Competition, award of any Prize, or use of any Prize. Entrant hereby releases and waives all of the Released Parties from any claims alleging Losses, whether existing now or arising in the future that in any way relate to the Released Parties’ performance in this Competition. Entrant further agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless coordinator, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any and all claims, actions, demands and liabilities, including those raised or brought by third parties, and any costs and expenses, including, without limitation reasonable attorney and professional fees and costs, and other expenses of any nature incurred in the investigation and defense of any claim resulting from any breach of any provision of the Competition Rules by an entrant.
FORCE MAJEURE OR OTHER UNCONTROLLABLE EVENTS:
If a virus, bug, catastrophic event, or any other unforeseen or unexpected event occurs that cannot be reasonably anticipated or controlled and affects the fairness and/or integrity of this Competition, coordinator reserves the right to cancel, change or suspend this Competition. This right is reserved whether the event is due to human or technical error.