Coalition to cement fair voting maps in Wisconsin brings fight to Eagle River

About 30 attendees turned out for an informational meeting on the possibility of creating an Independent Redistricting Committee in Wisconsin at Eagle River’s Veterans Resource Center last Wednesday night.

The bipartisan Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition is working to end gerrymandering by all political parties in Wisconsin ahead of the 2030 Census by passing legislation and eventually a state constitutional amendment that would permanently enact an independent and nonpartisan redistricting process.

According to a poll by Independent Voter News, more than 82% of Americans want redistricting done by an Independent Redistricting Committee (IRC), rather than politicians.

The meeting was led by Penny Bernard Schaber, a former state representative from Appleton and supporter of fair maps, and Nicole Gabrail, a member of the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition.

In partnership with the League of Women Voters, the coalition has worked for nearly two years to put together a draft proposal of legislation which they are using as a basis to bring this information to state residents and legislators.

According to the coalition’s website, “the proposed IRC would be composed of 15 members (plus three backups), picked fairly from across the state, with no political party calling the shots. They’ll draw maps using rules like a hard ban on giving any party an unfair advantage. Just fair maps, drawn by the people, for the people.”

What is an IRC?

An IRC is a group that is formed with the goal of ensuring that voters, not politicians, decide how electoral districts are drawn. While their structure can vary from state to state, all IRCs are meant to make the redistricting process more transparent and impartial.

In short, those who back this type of legislative reform believe that voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around, no matter which political party they align with.

Gabrail explained that only four states currently have truly independent redistricting committees written into their state constitutions — Arizona, Colorado, California and Michigan.

She also spoke on the history of gerrymandering in Wisconsin, noting that the last time there was bipartisan cooperation in drawing redistricting maps was in 1971 — more than half a century ago.

Wisconsin was considered one of the most gerrymandered states in the U.S. after new maps were drawn in 2010. Then, in August 2023, a lawsuit was brought to the Wisconsin Supreme Court condemning the maps as unconstitutional. The courts agreed and in December 2023 overturned those maps, forcing new ones to be drawn. The new, fairer maps were signed into law in February 2023, and in place for the fall 2024 election. But those fairer maps will only stay in effect until the next Census in 2030, when the opportunity for gerrymandered maps returns.

This is an ambitious timeline to turn around new legislation, but advocates say it’s an important step to make sure Wisconsin voters’ voices are heard.

‘Gerrymandering is a bipartisan disease’

Nicole Gabrail said that gerrymandered maps make it “virtually impossible” to hold constituents responsible, adding that this tactic is used by legislators no matter their political affiliations to enhance their chances of winning elections.

“No matter which party is in the majority — Democrat, Republican or something else entirely — all parties will gerrymander to entrench political power if given the opportunity. That is why we absolutely cannot give them that opportunity,” she said.

Penny Bernard Schaber served as a state legislator from 2009-2014 in Appleton. During the meeting, she talked about how much fairer she felt maps were early on in her political career as opposed to after they changed following the 2010 Census.

As someone who believes that representatives should work for their constituents, she preferred to be elected by people who actually wanted her as their representative, rather than being handed a win.

Referring to her campaign in 2008 before maps were redrawn, Schaber said, “It required me to work much harder. It required me to knock on thousands of doors, talk to all the constituents, respond to people, and to work with the people I was representing.

“When the gerrymandering happened, I was given basically a free seat, is what I was told,” Schaber said. “I was told by somebody in the State Assembly that I would really like the seat that was made for me. I said, ‘I’m sorry but I didn’t need your help the first time I won, and I don’t need it now. I’d prefer to have a competitive seat rather than have one made just for me.’

“As a representative, my job is to represent the people that live in my district.”

A difficult road ahead

The process of getting this legislation passed and cemented into the state constitution is a long and difficult one.

“The voting maps that we have right now are temporary. They’re set to expire in 2030 after the Census where our voting maps will be redrawn again. And this time, our politicians are going to be smarter (at drawing maps that cannot be legally challenged). They’re going to gerrymander,” Gabrail said.

In order to stop that from happening, Gabrail laid out the coalition’s next steps.

“First, we need to pass IRC legislation through the Senate and Assembly and have it signed by the governor. After that, our coalition is going to be working on a constitutional amendment to cement the IRC into our state constitution, all before the 2030 Census,” she said. And while 2030 seems far away, she said it’s really not. “It’s a lot of work. Four years is actually not that much time to get this done.”

Over the last couple months, the coalition has been hosting these informational meetings all across the state, and will continue to do so with the goal of sharing ideas and gaining input from voters on what they’d like to see in this legislation.

This fall and winter, they are working to solicit bipartisan cosponsors for IRC legislation which they hope will be signed into law. The final step will be enshrining this IRC legislation into the state constitution, which is important because laws can be repealed. But that is not an easy task — it requires passage of a joint resolution in two consecutive sessions of legislature, and citizens voting to approve the amendment.

Contact your representative

Those interested in this topic can read the full draft proposal at fairmapswi.com/draft-proposal.

Gabrail and Schaber both drew attention to the fact that voters need to reach out to their representatives. They noted that reps across the state have received a copy of the draft proposal at least once, if not twice, so should be able to have meaningful discussion about it with constituents.

Local representatives to contact are: Sen. Mary Felzkowski at 608-266-2509 or sen.felzkowski@legis.wisconsin.gov, and Rep. Rob Swearingen at 608-237-9134 or rep.swearingen@legis.wisconsin.gov. Phone scripts and email templates can be found by visiting fairmapswi.com/contact-for-irc.

Gabrail stressed that no group is too small to help share this information. “I’ve already come up to the North Woods twice now, and I can come back again,” she said as she encouraged attendees to take advantage of these informational opportunities. Anyone who would like to host an informational session on this topic can visit fairmapswi.com/activists-toolkit to fill out the Speaker Request Form.