Letter to the Editor: Gerrymandering and Fair Maps

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of gerrymandering is “the practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections.” Unfortunately, this is what we have in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s Republican-led state Senate created our current voting districts. The results of this gerrymandering were that in 2014, the GOP won 52 percent of the state but won 64 percent of the seats. This same trend continued in the 2018 election. Something’s wrong with this picture. The gerrymandered voting districts they created were successful for them but not for our democracy.

I think that our democracy thrives when we, the voters, know that our elections are fair, that our votes will count. I want my vote to be cast on a fair playing field. This can be done when we have fair voting districts, drawn by an independent, nonpartisan commission. This is what Fair Maps means!

For our democracy to continue and regain its vibrancy, I would like to see voting districts created in our state that will allow both political parties an equal opportunity to win an election. To help us understand our situation in Wisconsin and what we can do about changing it, there’s going to be a free Community Forum on Ending Gerrymandering held Nov. 13, 6:30 pm, at the Kress Pavilion in Egg Harbor. The speaker is Matt Rothschild, the director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. If you, too, are concerned about our democracy, plan to attend.

Stefan Peters

Sister Bay, Wisconsin