By UW-Eau Claire University Communications and CVPost Staff
Reforming Wisconsin’s current system of drawing new voting district maps will be discussed at a free public forum at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Wednesday evening, Oct. 28.
Two former state senators — Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) — will join Prof. Rodd Freitag of the UW-Eau Claire Political Science department, who will moderate the discussion on “Getting to Fair Voting Maps.” The forum is scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in Hibbard Hall 102, on the UW-EC campus.
“Redistricting for partisan advantage, otherwise known as gerrymandering, stacks the electoral deck in favor of one party over another,” Freitag said. “As a result, our elections become less competitive, our elected officials more extreme, and the power of the individual voter is diminished.”
Questions to be explored at the forum will include whether redistricting is a partisan issue and what, if anything, is wrong with “safe districts.” The discussion will also focus on who should draw our voting maps and what will it take to reform the existing redistricting process.
The forum is presented by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and is co-sponsored by the UW-Eau Claire Political Science department, Common Cause in Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
Further information about the “Getting to Fair Voting Maps” forum, and the general topic of redistricting, is available from Freitag at 715-836-5044 or freitard@uwec.edu.