MADISON, WI (WSAU) — Governor Tony Evers and Lincoln County Supervisor Hans Breitenmoser used a news conference at the Downtown Wausau branch of the Marathon County Library to introduce the procedure
“When elected officials can ignore their constituents without consequences, and when they can rely on the safety of their seats rather than the quality of their work, something’s wrong, folks,” said Gov. Evers.
He said he would like to think that getting the maps approved by the legislature wouldn’t be a problem, but says if they would like to draw up their own maps then the public should get the chance to compare the two.
“I hope that they will receive unanimous, bipartisan support. But, if the legislature decided to proceed as they have in the past and have gerrymandered maps, we’ll have those up there and the ones this commission put together and they’ll say ‘my gosh there’s a bit of a difference.”
Evers made it clear that if the legislature sends maps that are gerrymandered to his desk he would veto them. If that happens the case could end up in court, or new maps could be drawn up at the state level.
Breitenmoser says he’s long been an advocate for fair maps and helped lead the drive to put a non-binding referendum on the 2018 ballot in Lincoln County, and they aren’t alone.
“There are 50 counties that have passed advisory resolutions saying they want fair maps. Those counties represent 78% of [residents],” he said. “The vast majority of Wisconsinites live in counties that have passed resolutions asking for a non-partisan procedure, asking to end the gerrymandering.”
Breitenmoser adds that the only way the commission works is if their work is transparent and held to the same standard as other municipal, county, or state policymakers.
“If something as trivial as a public property meeting should be done with the door open, then something as important to our democracy as drawing the maps by which we choose our legislators [should also be done] transparently.”
“The foundation of our democracy, the reason it works is [that] we have involvement from people closest to the ground,” he added.
Evers used an executive order to create the commission on Monday. During the news conference, he announced that interested residents can apply to be on the commission through the state’s website.
He did not indicate how big the commission will be but did say that they will have support from state staff and will conduct training/information sessions over the summer before receiving the 2020 census data next spring.
Evers provided no solid timeline on when the maps would be completed, only saying it would be “as soon as possible,” after the census data is received in March 2021.
