Fair Maps Coalition begins promoting Independent Redistricting Commission
Carlene Bechen said Wisconsin has become one of the worst gerrymandered states in the country. The harm, she pointed out, was that when legislative seats are non-competitive and “locked in,” legislators are no longer accountable to voters and simply ignore their voices.
At a rally in Madison earlier this month, legislators and members of the Fair Maps Coalition presented details of their plans for an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) that would draw future district maps so as to end gerrymandering in Wisconsin once and for all.
Over the last few years, Americans have become more and more aware of gerrymandering and how political parties draw district voting maps in order to maximize their advantage and stay in power. Recently in Texas, legislators worked around the clock to redraw congressional districts in the middle of the decade rather than waiting until after the 2030 census, as is required by the U.S. Constitution. Redistricting is meant to happen only after the decennial census every ten years.
On hand to denounce those practices and push for the IRC were many long-term advocates for fair maps, including former State Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber; Carlene Bechen, Chair of the Fair Maps Coalition; Debra Cronmiller, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters; and Organizing Director of the Fair Maps Coalition, Iuscely Flores. Current legislators also spoke, including State Representatives Deb Andraca and Francesca Hong and State Senator Jeff Smith.
From left: Sen. Jeff Smith speaks at the rally promoting an Independent Redistricting Commission; Debra Cronmiller, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters; Former State Representative Penny Bernard Schaber (right).
“I have been doing this for years,” Hong (D-Madison area) said. “You are traveling across the state. You're holding town halls, you're educating folks on the importance of ending gerrymandering, and you're building community right there, as well as making sure that current voters and future voters understand the importance of having true representation.
“And instead of doing the work of strengthening democracy, both my colleagues on either side of the aisle are sitting through public hearings, listening to bills that nobody's asking for. And if we're going to hold public hearings and actually have a true democratic process, we need to make sure that we have fair maps and permanent fair maps.”
State Senator Jeff Smith
The Fair Maps Coalition (FMC) began work over two years ago to develop draft legislation for an Independent Redistricting Commission after studying other states’ efforts. Among the 20 organizations participating in the evaluation were Common Cause of Wisconsin, The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the League of Women Voters, Wisconsin Public Education Network, Wisconsin Conservation Voters and the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
Bechen noted that Wisconsin has become one of the worst gerrymandered states in the country. The harm, she pointed out, was that when legislative seats are non-competitive and “locked in,” legislators are no longer accountable to voters and simply ignore their voices.
Andraca (D-Milwaukee suburbs) provided an example after she tried to get her state representative to act on gun laws and was met with silence.
State Rep. Deb Andraca
“So I called him and called him again, and eventually he stopped returning my calls,” she told the gathering. “So I brought my daughter to a town hall meeting so that she could talk about what it's like being a student in classrooms today and why we need better gun laws.
“And slowly, thereafter, he stopped having town halls, and I couldn't understand as more and more legislators refused to meet, or even talk to their constituents. How do they possibly get re-elected? Well, the answer was gerrymandering.”
Ideally, Bechen said, the IRC would be in place well before the 2030 census. The new IRC district voting maps could then be used for the 2032 election and all future state legislative elections. The IRC would be charged not only with congressional redistricting but state assembly and state senate maps as well.
State Rep. Francesca Hong
Cronmiller of the League of Women voters reiterated that voters should choose their representatives rather than the legislators choosing their voters. According to the draft legislation introduced at the rally, the Independent Redistricting Commission would assume the role of drawing maps, with a two-thirds majority required to approve them.
“This is so critical, the most critical piece to saving our democracy,” Sen. Smith (D-Eau Claire) said. “And I appreciate so much what we're being handed today as a starting document and how it should be done.”
The Fair Maps Coalition is asking legislators to hold public hearings about the IRC all over Wisconsin. Only through public discussion, they say, can the people of Wisconsin understand the need for Fair Voting Maps through the development of an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC).
After the rally, volunteers who had driven in from across the state, delivered packets of information and draft legislation to the 33 State Senate Capitol offices and the 99 State Assembly offices.
The Fair Maps Coalition will be holding a presentation on the IRC in the Mary Beth Nienhaus Room C at the Appleton Public Library on Nov. 19 from 6 to 8 p.m.
You can go to the Wisconsin Fair Maps website here to view the draft proposal. https://www.fairmapswi.com/draft-proposal
Stay tuned to The Dairyland Patriot for updates on this unfolding story.
Jerry Iverson was one of the members of a group attached to Law Forward’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the 2022 maps. The state senate and state assembly maps were later ruled unconstitutional by the State Supreme Court and new maps were drawn before the 2024 election.
Fair Maps Coalition begins promoting Independent Redistricting Commission © 2025 by Jerry Iverson is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
