Wisconsin governor creates non-partisan redistricting commission News
© WikiMedia (Tom Arthur)
Wisconsin governor creates non-partisan redistricting commission

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers signed an executive order Monday establishing the People’s Maps Commission, a non-partisan redistricting commission.

Wisconsin is the fourteenth state to give authority over redistricting to an office outside the state legislature, and the eleventh to give said authority to an independent commission. Wisconsin’s current congressional districts are considered highly partisan and were challenged in court in 2011.

Evers has not yet selected the members of the Commission. According to the order, the members will include experts in redistricting and representatives of Wisconsin’s congressional districts and communities of interest. None of the members will be currently involved in politics.

The order lists requirements for the new districts intended to prevent voter disenfranchisement. It also aims to prevent one party from gaining an advantage in any particular district, and calls for not splitting municipalities or wards. Considering that the geography or demographic make-up of a district tend to favor one party over the other, the commission will have to balance competing interests.

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