Redistricting process likely to be much like last time

It is finally that time again. The Wisconsin Legislature is beginning the process of drawing legislative boundaries, as it does every ten years. And as it does every ten years, lawmakers will seize the opportunity to try to help themselves, while making a mess of the whole process. It looks like that is the plan again, as Republicans in control of the Legislature say they hope the next set of boundaries retain “as much as possible of the core of existing districts.” Let’s hope not. Wisconsin’s legislative districts are the most gerrymandered in the country. They are drawn to give one political party an advantage over the other by creating “safe” districts for their candidates. When this last happened in 2011, it was done behind closed doors, in secret, with no public input or transparency. It was the subject of many expensive legal fights, and federal judges ruled the maps to be unconstitutional. The process was too secret, too partisan, too expensive and too unfair. Why not follow the Iowa model and have the maps drawn by an independent commission? The People’s Maps Commission already has more than 800 citizen submitted maps, any of which is more fair than anything our politicians would come up with. We only do this once every ten years, and it is time we get it right.