Keith Gaddie, Kenneth Mayer Testify at People's Map Commission Oct. 29 Print
News
Written by Wisconsin DOA Communications   
Wednesday, 28 October 2020 15:40

voting-2020Hearing will feature 5th Congressional District. Commissioners to hear testimony on how district lines were drawn in 2011.


MADISON – Today, the People's Maps Commission announced Keith Gaddie and Kenneth Mayer provide expert testimony to the Commission during the online virtual public hearing on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020.

Gaddie, a voting rights and redistricting expert, is the President's Associates Presidential Professor at the University of Oklahoma. Mayer, a redistricting expert, is a professor of American politics at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Gaddie and Mayer, both personally involved in Wisconsin's 2011 redistricting process, will share their perspectives on what happened in 2011 that resulted in Wisconsin's current maps. More information about the expert speakers is available HERE.

wi-dist-mapsFollowing the experts' presentations, Wisconsin residents have the opportunity to provide public comment to commission members regarding how they have been impacted by legislative redistricting and share their ideas for how Wisconsin can work together to achieve fair maps. Anyone wishing to testify at a hearing must register in advance by visiting the People’s Maps Commission website HERE. The deadline for remote public appearance requests for the Oct. 29 hearing is 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020.

Remote public testimony will begin at 7:30 p.m. Each speaker has a time limit of 3 minutes. Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis, with residents of Wisconsin’s Fifth Congressional District being given priority.

Although the Oct. 29th hearing will focus on the Fifth Congressional District, all Wisconsin residents are encouraged to watch and participate. The hearing will be live-streamed on the Department of Administration’s YouTube Channel HERE.

For anyone unable to join online, written comments are strongly encouraged. All written comments can be submitted at any time using the feedback form available on the People’s Maps Commission website HERE. Written comments will be reviewed by the commissioners and are public record.

Selected by a three-judge panel, the Commission is a nine-member nonpartisan redistricting commission charged with drawing fair, impartial maps for Wisconsin. More information about the Commission, its members, and its activities is available HERE.

Every 10 years, each state redraws their legislative and congressional district maps using data from the decennial census. In addition to the data from the 2020 U.S. Census, the Commission will use the information gathered during the public hearing process to prepare new maps. It is then up to the Legislature to take up and approve the maps created by the Commission.

Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the People's Maps Commission will host the public hearings online for each of Wisconsin's congressional districts. Agendas and additional details will be announced in advance of future meeting dates. The hearing dates are as follows:

  • 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, 8th Congressional District
  • Watch the recording of the Oct. 1 hearing HERE.
  • 6:00-8:30 pm Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020, 5th Congressional District
  • Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, 3rd Congressional District
  • Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, 4th Congressional District
  • January hearing date TBD, 7th Congressional District
  • February hearing date TBD, 1st Congressional District
  • March hearing date TBD, 6th Congressional District
  • April hearing date TBD, 2nd Congressional District