LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE MUM ON REDISTRICTING
Monday, June 6th, 2011 -- 8:55 AM
As the state budget begins to take shape, there is increased speculation Republican legislative leaders may take the unprecedented step of placing redistricting in the plan.Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign says there is a ?persistent rumor? that Republicans want to redraw the lines before the recall elections, where they could hypothetically lose control of the Senate.
"I have not seen a map myself, but we felt the rumors were persistent enough that it was time to try to flush it out," McCabe says.
A number of ?well-connected? sources say Republicans, who control both houses of the legislature and the Governor?s office, already have maps drawn and ready to be placed in the budget, McCabe claims.
That would be ?a first.? Typically, local municipalities redraw their lines before the state.
"We've never had a process before where (state) redistricting is done before those local lines are drawn," McCabe cautions. "If the ward lines shift, you could have all kinds of confusion about where polling places are."
"You could have some places where people are voting in one polling place for one of their offices, and voting in another polling place for another person who represents them," he concludes.
Here in Wisconsin, the old adage ?to the victor go the spoils? is very apropos when it comes to redistricting. The state legislature redraws state legislative and congressional district lines every ten years, in conjunction with new data from the U.S. Census.
So, the party in power at the turn-of-the-decade has the ability to redraw lines to suit their reelection chances.
Neighboring Iowa has a non-partisan, 3rd party redraw the lines. McCabe encourages Wisconsin to work toward that solution.
Rep. Scott Suder, who is part of the Republican leadership, has not responded to phone calls seeking comment.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.