Wisconsin legislative boundaries illegally drawn

A panel of federal judges has now confirmed what we have long argued. That Wisconsin’s political boundaries were drawn up to unfairly give advantage to one political party. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin ruled that the legislative districts were created in violation of both the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because the districts were created to deprive Democratic voters of their right to be represented. The boundaries, drawn by whichever political party is in charge at the time of the census, were created to cram opposing voters into a single district, or by dividing them so they are the majority in fewer districts in a process called “Packing and cracking.” Gerrymandering these legislative districts makes it harder to throw the bums out. Because of how the maps were drawn, many races failed to even attract any opposition. That leads to less competitive races, and makes it more likely the incumbents will keep their seats, and we get more of the same from our elected representatives. That’s why we need a new process for drawing legislative boundaries, putting it under the control of a non-partisan body. We deserve to be able to choose our elected representatives, rather than allowing them to choose us.