LETTER: Is County Board afraid voters will support fair redistricting?

To Ozaukee Press:

I am at a loss to understand why the citizens of Ozaukee County should be prevented from having our voices heard on the spring ballot. Along with many other citizens, I attended a December meeting of the County Board to ask the supervisors to allow citizens to vote on a referendum proposing fair legislative and congressional district maps drawn by an independent, nonpartisan panel.

This referendum motion was put forward by several supervisors. Other supervisors tried to suspend the idea indefinitely, which fortunately failed. It is now to be considered again at the Jan. 15 meeting at 9 a.m.

I believe there is a fear by some partisan supervisors of what most polls have proven—people believe in this fairness. In future elections, neither party should go into a secret room to have a sophisticated computer program stack the deck, as was done in Madison the last time.

To block this advisory referendum vote is undemocratic and amounts to voter suppression, in my opinion. Districting should not be punitive for the next 10 years. Our county supervisors should respect the citizens’ wishes. We should be heard. Put fair maps before the people for a vote.

Joanne Kaus
Grafton