Fair Maps Update

By: Irene Bugge

Polk County became a hub of activism for fair maps in 2021. This spring with a nonpartisan redistricting referendum on the April ballot, grassroots volunteers put up 150 purple and white “End Gerrymandering” lawn signs, mailed 2,000 vote-yes-for-the-referendum post cards, left messages or spoke directly to 700 voters and held five fair maps sign rallies on local street corners. 

Voters went to the polls and with a solid majority — 61% — voted YES. 

To date 56 out of 72 counties in Wisconsin, 83%, have passed similar advisory resolutions or referendums sending a strong, unified message to the State Legislature that Wisconsinites want fair, nonpartisan voting district maps in 2021 and an end to gerrymandering. 

But because these resolutions and referendums are advisory or nonbinding, the legislators can choose to ignore what the majority of the people of Wisconsin want.

With the recent release of the 2020 census data and the redistricting process underway, we will soon find out if our representatives in the Legislature are listening. 

The People’s Maps Commission 

One group that has been listening is the People’s Maps Commission. Established by Governor Evers last fall, the People’s Maps Commission is modeled on nonpartisan committees that have worked successfully in other states to draw fair voting district maps. 

To date, the Commission has participated in more than 20 hours of public hearings. They have listened to feedback from over 1,000 Wisconsinites, representing 65 counties and 245 municipalities and learned from 18 redistricting experts. There have been 1,746 submissions to the Commission.

Based on these listening sessions and submissions, the Commission created a ranked list of mapmaking criteria. These deliberations were also open to the public. You can watch their on-going working meetings on their YouTube Channel.