Contact: GovPress@wisconsin.gov
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today delivered the Democratic Radio Address highlighting the release of new, fair voting maps—known as the People’s Maps—prepared by the People’s Maps Commission. The People’s Maps commission was created by the governor in 2020 and is the state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission tasked with preparing maps for consideration by the governor and the Wisconsin State Legislature. The maps were finalized following a year-long process that included multiple rounds of opportunities for public input that resulted in nearly 2,000 submissions from Wisconsinites representing 68 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties and 321 municipalities. More information about the final maps and the People’s Maps Commission is available here: Wisconsin.gov/peoplesmaps.
Hi, folks. Governor Tony Evers here.
This week our state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission, the People’s Maps Commission, presented their final, fair maps to the Legislature and me for consideration.
In 2020, when I signed an executive order creating the People’s Maps Commission, I said it was time to look to the people of our state—not high-paid consultants, or lawyers, or elected officials—to draw our electoral maps for the next decade.
The People’s Maps Commission, who were selected to serve by a panel of three retired judges, spent the last year hosting listening sessions in each of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts and soliciting feedback and input from Wisconsinites before, during, and after preparing draft sets of maps.
The Commission received nearly 2,000 submissions from Wisconsinites in 68 of our 72 counties and 321 municipalities, as well as 18 leading redistricting experts. I know Wisconsinites were eager to participate because for years, the people of this state have asked their elected officials for nonpartisan redistricting. For years, the people of this state have demanded better and fairer maps. And for years, the people of this state have gone ignored.
The maps prepared by Republicans a decade ago have been called some of the most gerrymandered maps in the country. And a few weeks ago, they introduced a new set of gerrymandered maps modeled after the same gerrymandered maps we’ve had for 10 years so that they can preserve their undemocratic majorities in the Legislature while increasing their chances of disproportionately winning six of Wisconsin’s eight congressional districts.
Here’s the bottom line: if Republican maps come to me as they are currently drafted, I’ll veto them. It’s just as simple as that.
Wisconsinites want fair maps, and they want nonpartisan redistricting.
Please contact your legislators—tell them that you support nonpartisan redistricting and ask them to take up the maps prepared by the People’s Maps Commission.
Thank you.
