Letter to the Editor: Fair Redistricting: 72 Percent of Wisconsin Voters Want It

In these divisive political times, it should be impossible to get 72 percent of Wisconsin voters to agree on anything, but Wisconsinites’ desire for fair redistricting may be the exception. 

According to a 2019 Marquette University Law School poll, 72 percent of Wisconsin voters prefer redistricting of legislative and congressional districts to be performed by a nonpartisan commission. Fair Maps is a Wisconsin initiative that can provide such a fair, nonpolitical solution for the redistricting that takes place in Wisconsin and other states every 10 years. Fair Maps would replace the current, archaic gerrymandering system that allows one party to redraw districts to its political advantage.

The model on which Fair Maps is based has been employed successfully in Iowa for 40 years. Fifty-three of Wisconsin’s 72 counties have endorsed Fair Maps to date. And even Door County politicians from both parties support it: Republican Joel Kitchens, the current state representative in District 1; and Democrat Kim Delorit Jensen, his opponent in the upcoming election, are both on record as supporting this important initiative.

So how can you help move Fair Maps forward in Wisconsin so that we can take the politics out of our district redrawing? Vote “yes” on the Fair Maps advisory referendum on the Nov. 3 ballot. You’ll be saying yes to a fair, nonpartisan redistricting system in which all Wisconsin voters can place their confidence.

Rick Nelson

Juddville, Wisconsin