Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers is moving forward with his plan to redraw electoral maps, by creating a nonpartisan redistricting commission. The Democratic governor on Monday signed an executive order to create the commission ahead of the 2020 census.
Voters should choose their elected officials, not the other way around. That’s why this morning I signed Executive Order #66 establishing The People’s Maps Commission. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/CIAUUL18BA
— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) January 27, 2020
Evers said that gerrymandering has rendered elections somewhat useless for a large section of Wisconsin. “When elected officials can rely on the safety of their seat rather than the quality of their work, again, something’s wrong there.”
Evers announced his intent to form the commission during last week’s State of the State address. He claimed on Monday that much of the state is already on board with an end to gerrymandering.
“The people of Wisconsin agree. Over 50 counties, representing 78 percent of Wisconsinites have passed resolutions around supporting non partisan redistricting.”
Legislative Republicans have already said they intend to draw maps without the Governor’s input. The Legislature will, however, need the Governor to sign off on the resulting maps if they don’t want to go to court over the redistricting.