How a minority of voters select a majority of legislators
Thank you, Waupaca County Board, for the courageous vote taken on April 16 to support a non-partisan method of determining legislative districts, that is to oppose the practice of gerrymandering.
The districts are redrawn every 10 years, based on census data, and the party in control of the legislature gets to draw the lines. Gerrymandering is an old practice, used by both parties, but Republicans across the nation, using research, statistics and pricey law firms, have made gerrymandering an art, drawing boundary lines in increasingly absurd, creative ways to most benefit their party control. (Google “Redmap” for more information). We saw the results of this in the fall election; one party got the majority of votes, the party in power got a majority of the seats in the legislature, due entirely to gerrymandering. Did our votes even count?
The county board resolution was especially meaningful in these super-polarized times. Some may remember when, regardless of party, members of Congress and state legislatures worked together for the good of their constituents. Now, no matter how serious the infractions, no matter how dangerous the hits on our democratic process, there are few legislators with the guts to call out bad actors or bad practices, if it threatens control by their party. And vilifying the opposing party makes it very hard to work together to do the people’s work.
When we cast ballots we do not know if our candidate or party will win, but accept that the political pendulum swings back and forth, as it would in a country of diverse peoples and viewpoints. We want a system that is fair to all and is non-partisan. Gerrymandering is as much a threat to the electoral process as interference by foreign countries, or someone stuffing a ballot box. How do we prevent corruption when powerful officeholders do not believe they need to be responsive to us constituents because the system is rigged in their favor? How soon before these legislators do not represent anyone but themselves and those who fund them?
Waupaca County historically leans heavily Republican making the vote of the County Board to support a non-partisan method of drawing congressional districts, at a time when Wisconsin’s legislature is in Republican control, especially principled. They are telling the legislature something it needs to hear: “We don’t care who is in power, we want people’s votes to matter.” The news of this vote was a light shining in some pretty dark times. Thanks, county board!
Megan Karth
Waupaca