Letter to the Editor, submitted 6/29/21
From: Leslie Wegener, Stoddard WI
Re: Redistricting input needed
Published 7/4/21 in the La Crosse Tribune
A majority of Wisconsinites - and experts - agree that our state’s current voting maps are badly gerrymandered. But 2021 is the year we can change that. This is the year new voting maps are produced based on new census data. And now is the time for residents of the 3rd Congressional District to get involved.
When district boundaries are drawn to achieve and preserve political advantage, community interests suffer. When communities are split arbitrarily, political voices are diluted. This has happened in villages, towns, counties and school districts all over the state.
Governor Evers formed a People’s Maps Commission (PMC) to create nonpartisan maps for the Legislature to consider this redistricting cycle. The PMC wants to keep communities together, and it needs our help.
Between now and July 30, visit the
PMC online (https://portal.wisconsin-mapping.org/) and speak out about the community that matters to you: where you live, concerns you have, places of importance, boundaries to recognize. Let the PMC know what communities you think should be kept together and why.
After July 30, the Commission will use all the input received to develop fair maps for the next decade. And rather than dividing and conquering communities, their goal is to preserve identified communities of interest so elected officials are accountable to their constituents.
Taking part in this open and fair redistricting process has never been more important. After all, democracy is only as good as we choose to make it.