People, not politicians, should redraw Wisconsin’s legislative boundaries

They are to be called the people’s maps. A group of Wisconsin citizens is being sought to redraw Wisconsin’s legislative boundaries, done every ten years after the census. Under Governor Evers’ plan, average people would be appointed to a commission to draw a series of fair maps that determine in what district people vote. That is a far cry from how it was done ten years ago. Under the current system, whatever political party holds the majority in Madison is responsible for drawing the maps. We know how that turned out. The maps were gerrymandered to favor republicans, with the end result that the politicians selected the voters, rather than the other way around. The maps were drawn in secret, by politicians and lobbyists, with no input from the public. Those involved in the behind-closed-doors meetings even had to sign a secrecy agreement. That is not democracy. The process of determining legislative boundaries should be transparent. The power to draw the maps belongs in the hands of the people, not special interest groups. Unfortunately, there is no requirement whatever maps are drawn be adopted. That would be up to the legislature. But if nothing else, we will at least be able to see what fairly drawn maps look like. And you can bet it will be a whole lot different from what the politicians come up with.