Vote Yes! for Fair Maps
Why vote yes for Fair Maps? Currently, Wisconsin’s congressional maps are drawn to favor a particular group, a practice called gerrymandering. Voting for Fair Maps would be your way of telling our legislature that you want them to change how our maps are drawn and by whom. You want them drawn by a nonpartisan committee without using political or partisan data.
Fairness is an American value. It is so important we go to war to demand fairness. The Revolutionary War and the Civil War were about fairness. Constitutional amendments and laws have also been about fairness. Women struggled until 1921 against the unfairness of being denied the vote. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed because people of color were denied the right to vote until they demanded fairness..
When asked Wisconsinites want fairness too. According to a survey from Lake Research Partners and WPA Intelligence in September 2017, it found that in Wisconsin 75% of Democrats, 81% of independents, and 61% of Republicans agree that “we lose the guaranteed freedom to choose our own leaders when electoral maps are drawn to favor one political party.”
As Wisconsinites we are not alone in our desire for Fair Maps. Iowa has used a fair maps system since 1980. Their maps have been drawn by a nonpartisan committee using specific rules that prevent them from drawing maps that give advantage to any group.
On April 7th you can let your voice be heard. Both Pierce and St. Croix County ballots will include an advisory referendum that offer voters a chance to tell their representatives in Madison that they want Fair Maps. In Pierce County you will have the opportunity to vote YES or NO on this simple question: “Should the Wisconsin legislature create a nonpartisan procedure for the preparation of legislative and congressional district plans and maps?” In all nine counties where a similar referendum appeared, the voters overwhelmingly chose fairness.
Why is it important now? The new maps are only drawn every ten years after the census. This year is a census year. If we don’t change how the maps are drawn this time, we will have to wait another ten years to get a crack at fair elections. This is why Pierce County Grassroots Organizing (GRO) supports voting YES for a non-partisan procedure, Fair Maps, on April 7th.
Pierce County GRO is a project that was conceived of last October and is being worked on by volunteer Pierce County residents who are interested in helping Pierce County residents and communities become more prosperous. Their mission is to empower and support Pierce County residents in advancing prosperity in their communities by working together for goals such as accountable, effective, representative and responsible government; access to health care; land use that allows for our clean air and water; and/or other goals relevant to making our communities prosperous.
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