Ahead of two gerrymandering cases heading to the U.S. Supreme Court in March, Common Cause Wisconsin is ramping the pressure to change how district lines are being drawn. The Republican North Carolina and Democratic Maryland legislatures are being put to task for unfairly drawing their district lines to favor their party in power. Wisconsin’s own case was sent back to the lower courts in June 2018 for not proving the harm caused by the gerrymandered maps in the state. Common Cause Wisconsin Executive Director Jay Heck says a split government, the uncovering of $850,000 legal bill from a Chicago law firm for protecting the current district maps, and support across political persuasions are reasons for hope for change in 2019.

 

Heck encourages people to contact their local lawmakers and sign its petition of support for instituting the Iowa Model of reapportionment, which designates the duty of drawing district maps to a non-partisan review board.