Several freshmen Democrat state representatives held a press conference Tuesday to introduce a joint resolution that would let Wisconsinites decide if district boundaries in the state should be redrawn.
State Rep. Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, introduced the bill and said it would place a referendum on the November 2014 ballot asking residents if they want to use a nonpartisan redistricting system.
Wachs said the redistricting system would be similar to one recently adopted with bipartisan support in Iowa.
He also said Republicans had “locked up votes” within the current district boundaries.
According to Wachs, state Democratic politicians received 174,000 more votes in the November 2011 elections than state Republicans and still lost a substantial number of seats in both houses.
“Representative democracy is being ignored in this state,” Wachs said.
State Rep. Mandy Wright, D-Wausau, said the redistricting process taking place in November 2011 cost taxpayers $2.1 million and was unprecedented, according to a statement. She also said the current state boundaries are the “crux” of extreme legislation such as the voter ID bill and Act 10, which stripped unions of collective bargaining rights, as a result of lopsided state houses.
“Legislators [are] choosing constituents, not constituents choosing legislators,” Wright said.
According to Wachs, the issue affects both parties and Democrats have pledged to reach out to every single state Republican individually in order to secure as much support as possible.
“If you believe in representative democracy, you should be with us on this,” Wachs said.
