State Senators Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, and Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, introduced redrawn possible voting district maps Wednesday, drawn by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau to more accurately and fairly represent Wisconsin’s electorate.
The new guidelines included with the maps would require the LRB to more evenly distribute the districts based on demographic data including population changes and data reflecting race or language minorities. The bill would also create the Redistricting Advisory Commission to oversee the changes.
The law is in response to growing concerns about what Cullen calls Wisconsin’s increasing trend toward gerrymandering, the redrawing of district lines to protect a party’s majority. Cullen said in a statement the current maps “tell a story of serious gerrymandering meant to serve a political party.”
Schultz said the new district maps would “more closely mirror general voter sentiment,” and do not take into account political motives, according to the statement.
