Vote Yes! for Fair Maps

Why vote
yes for Fair Maps?  Currently,
Wisconsin’s congressional maps are drawn to favor a particular group, a
practice called gerrymandering.  Voting
for Fair Maps would be your way of telling our legislature that you want them
to change how our maps are drawn and by whom.  You want them drawn by a nonpartisan committee
without using political or partisan data.  

Fairness is
an American value. It is so important we go to war to demand fairness. The
Revolutionary War and the Civil War were about fairness. Constitutional
amendments and laws have also been about fairness. Women struggled until 1921
against the unfairness of being
denied the vote. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed because people of color
were denied the right to vote until they demanded fairness..

When asked Wisconsinites want fairness too.  According to a survey from Lake Research Partners and WPA Intelligence in September 2017, it found that in Wisconsin  75% of Democrats, 81% of independents, and 61% of Republicans agree that “we lose the guaranteed freedom to choose our own leaders when electoral maps are drawn to favor one political party.”    

As
Wisconsinites we are not alone in our desire for Fair Maps.  Iowa has used a fair maps system since 1980.
Their maps have been drawn by a nonpartisan committee using specific rules that
prevent them from drawing maps that give advantage to any group.

On April 7^th
you can let your voice be heard. Both Pierce and St. Croix County ballots will include
an advisory referendum that offer voters a chance to tell their representatives
in Madison that they want Fair Maps. In Pierce County you will have the
opportunity to vote YES or NO on this simple question: “Should the Wisconsin
legislature create a nonpartisan procedure for the preparation of legislative
and congressional district plans and maps?” In all nine counties where a
similar referendum appeared, the voters overwhelmingly chose fairness.

Why is it important now?  The new maps are only drawn every ten years after the census. This year is a census year. If we don’t change how the maps are drawn this time, we will have to wait another ten years to get a crack at fair elections. This is why Pierce County Grassroots Organizing (GRO) supports voting YES for a non-partisan procedure, Fair Maps, on April 7th.  

Pierce County GRO is a project that was conceived of last October and is being worked on by volunteer Pierce County residents who are interested in helping Pierce County residents and communities become more prosperous.  Their mission is to empower and support Pierce County residents in advancing prosperity in their communities by working together for goals such as accountable, effective, representative and responsible government; access to health care; land use that allows for our clean air and water;  and/or other goals relevant to making our communities prosperous.