Dane County Officials Weigh Changes To How Legislative Districts Are Drawn

With Tuesday’s primary election on many Wisconsinites’ minds, few are thinking ahead to the election in 2021. Some Dane County officials already are.

Local officials want to change how political boundaries are drawn, and a hearing will be held this week to begin the process.

Wisconsin’s congressional and state legislative boundaries are drawn by state lawmakers every 10 years. It’s a high stakes, high-profile process that often overshadows what’s happening at the local level.

Dane County supervisors now set boundary lines for 37 nonpartisan districts, but are considering changes in the future.

Sharon Corrigan, the county board chair, said that officials are planning ahead.

“We don’t know who is going to representing those districts come 2021. We may be the ones in those seats. It may be other individuals. It’s a lot easier to look at what the process is and change the process when you’re a little ways out from it,” she said.

This spring, Dane County asked voters whether redistricting should be nonpartisan at both the local and state levels. The advisory referendum passed overwhelmingly. This ballot question came after Wisconsin Republicans quickly drew legislative and congressional districts in 2011 that were unsuccessfully challenged in state and federal courts.

Dane County Supervisor Jenni Dye said that reforming how boundaries are drawn would prevent the party in power from trying to gain political advantage long term.

“We don’t need a process where people feel that potentially politicians are drawing lines to choose their voters,” Dye said.

Dye sponsored a resolution on redistricting at the county level. A county committee will hear from two election experts on Thursday during a public hearing. The meeting will be held on Thursday at 5 p.m. at the City-County Building in Madison.