Nonpartisan Redistricting (Fair Maps) Yes or No? (part 2)

Nonpartisan Redistricting (Fair Maps) Yes or No?

by Irene Bugge

On April 6, voters in Polk County will find the following question on their ballot: “Should the Wisconsin legislature create a nonpartisan procedure for the preparation of legislative and congressional district plans and maps?” What does this actually mean and why is it important? This article is the second installment of a series to educate voters about the non-binding referendum question on the ballot and aid them in making an informed decision.

What happened in 2011 when voting district maps were redrawn?

According to Dale Schultz and Tim Cullen, former state senators who served at the time, a computer programmer from Oklahoma drew the maps behind closed doors. The programmer used sophisticated analysis of past voting data to rig or gerrymander the maps in favor of the majority party.

“The maps were kept secret,” Schultz, the former Republican Majority Leader, said. “I was allowed to see how my district was drawn only if I swore that I would not share that information with anyone. I never got to see what the rest of the districts looked like before we voted to approve the maps.”

Advances in data analytics enabled the Republican map drawers to be precise in packing Democratic voters into fewer and fewer districts or spreading them out to dilute their power.

What has happened since the extreme gerrymander in 2011?

Voters were disenfranchised. Races were not competitive and many candidates ran unopposed. Extreme partisanship prevailed. Expensive court battles over the maps wasted $4 million of taxpayer money that should have been used for roads, schools, broadband, and clean water.

In 2016 a federal court deemed the maps unconstitutional because they unfairly diluted the votes and the voices of over half of Wisconsin’s citizens. The state was ordered to redraw the maps. This decision was appealed to the US Supreme Court, which sent it back to the lower court. In a subsequent ruling on two different gerrymandering cases, one from Maryland (where the Democrats rigged the maps) and one from North Carolina (where the Republicans rigged the maps), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the states, not a federal court, must deal with the issue of partisan gerrymandering. 

Where do things stand now?

Here in our state, the League of Women Voters, the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition, Western Wisconsin for Nonpartisan Voting Districts, and other grassroots groups have championed a campaign to ban gerrymandering. Nearly 80% of counties in Wisconsin have passed nonpartisan redistricting resolutions or referendums like the one on the April 6 ballot in Polk County.

And last year, Gov. Tony Evers established the People’s Maps Commission, which has taken testimony from citizens all over the state about why Wisconsinites need fair maps.

This fall, the Census Bureau will deliver its data to the Legislature, which will redraw the maps. This is a crucial time to put pressure on our elected officials to draw those maps fairly.

 “Each resolution passed by a county board or referendum passed by voters puts more pressure on the State legislature to use a fair, nonpartisan system for drawing maps,” says Carolyn Saunders, chair, LWV St. Croix Valley. “We would like to see the referendum on the spring ballot pass with 65-70% of voters saying ‘yes’ to nonpartisan redistricting. This would send a strong message to the State legislature that their constituents in Polk County expect them to use a fair system that gives representative voting power back to the people.”

 On April 6th all Polk County voters will get a chance to voice their opinion on this issue. Voting “yes” will bring us closer to establishing a nonpartisan procedure in Wisconsin. Voting “no” will tell our legislators that we want them to continue rigging our legislative elections.

Sourced by materials from: League of Women Voters, Western Wisconsin for Nonpartisan Voting Districts, Wisconsin Farmers Union and Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition.