The public had a chance to weigh in Thursday on new political maps proposed for Wisconsin's legislative and congressional boundaries.
Many of those who testified charged Republican leaders are pursuing party interests over fair representation. One of the common themes "fair map" advocates expressed is the new maps look very similar to the maps Republicans pushed through during the 2011 redistricting process.
Sachin Chheda, director of the Fair Elections Project, argued the 2011 boundaries gave the GOP a huge electoral advantage over the past decade.
"What we saw in the last ten years is, across the state, statewide, in two out of the last five elections, Democrats won massive majorities of the vote," Chheda pointed out. "And the number of seats allocated to those Democrats didn't change at all in the Legislature, or changed by one seat."
Republicans, who control redistricting because of their majorities, countered they have followed a fair and constitutionally driven process which sought public input, including an online portal for residents to submit suggested maps.
They also claimed Democratic failures to gain more seats suggest they are not in touch with the electorate. Redistricting happens each decade after a formal census count.
Chheda rejected claims the situations where Democrats lost ground were largely the result of their own doing.
"That didn't reflect bad candidates," Chheda contended. "That didn't reflect the will of the voters. It's simply a lie. It's not true, because not enough Democrats moved from one place to another."
Fair map advocates recognized in other states, where Democrats control redistricting, there have been similar partisan moves. They asserted no party should control the process.
There have been repeated calls for Wisconsin to approve an independent redistricting commission. The GOP-led Legislature is expected to vote on the maps in the coming days. A veto is likely from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, paving the way for courts to take over the map-making.
