MILWAUKEE— Sachin Chheda, director at the Fair Elections Project, issued the following statement in response to SB 621, the maps introduced by Leader LeMahieu and Speaker Vos Wednesday afternoon:

Republican leadership is trying to rig the maps for another cycle and pull the wool over our eyes. They underestimate the people of Wisconsin. We won’t stand for it.

“As observers will recall, in 2011 the legislative majority secretly hired consultants, locked their team in a secret map room, and insisted upon confidentiality agreements for their own members. They even smashed hard drives with a hammer to try and hide their efforts to rig the maps.

“Thanks to the tireless efforts of Wisconsin citizens advocating for open and honest government in Wisconsin, the redistricting process in our state this year is more transparent and people are paying attention. This year, legislative leaders solicited feedback on the Draw Your District portal, a direct response to the opinion of a supermajority of Wisconsinites who want an open, transparent, and fair process of drawing maps.

“But they still retain the core of a map that a federal court ruled unconstitutional for disenfranchising Wisconsin voters, which is wrong and unacceptable. The people of Wisconsin don’t want rigged elections: they want fair maps, and they don’t want Speaker Vos to give himself a job for life.

“The critical next steps in this process are for legislative leaders to give the people of Wisconsin enough time to fully review and analyze SB 621, have multiple substantive and accessible hearings, and agree to take up the People’s Maps Commission maps.

“Speaker Vos and Leader LeMahieu must listen to their constituents across the state, who are clamoring for a fair redistricting process and maps free of gerrymanders, and turn away from this dishonest scheme.”

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