THE DRAW ACT

The DRAW Act — District Representation and Accountability in Wisconsin

End Partisan Gerrymandering

In a healthy democracy, voters choose their representatives. In Wisconsin, it has too often worked the other way around — politicians drawing district maps specifically designed to choose their own voters, entrench their party's power, and make themselves nearly impossible to remove from office. The DRAW Act ends that.

1. Redistricting Happens Only After the Census — No Exceptions

District maps should be redrawn when the data demands it — not whenever a party in power sees a political opportunity. The DRAW Act establishes that redistricting in Wisconsin occurs only following the completion of a federal census, on the standard ten-year cycle. No mid-decade redraws. No political opportunism. The calendar is set by the count, not by whoever controls Madison.

2. Maps Are Drawn by an Independent Nonpartisan Commission

Under the DRAW Act, the responsibility for drawing Wisconsin's legislative district maps is removed entirely from the legislature and placed in the hands of an independent nonpartisan commission — a body with no financial stake in the outcome and no partisan allegiance to protect. Politicians should not be drawing the lines that determine whether they keep their jobs. That is a fundamental conflict of interest, and the DRAW Act treats it as one.

3. Approval Requires Genuine Bipartisan Agreement

An independent commission drawing the maps is only half the solution. The DRAW Act requires that any proposed maps be approved by all three of the following before taking effect:

• The Wisconsin State Assembly

• The Wisconsin State Senate

• The Governor of Wisconsin

This ensures that maps cannot be rammed through by a single chamber or signed into law by an executive acting alone.

4. The Trifecta Provision — The Most Important Safeguard

Here is where the DRAW Act goes further than most redistricting reform proposals: in the event that one party controls the Assembly, the Senate, and the Governor's office simultaneously — a political trifecta — the approval of the minority leader of each chamber is also required before maps can take effect.

Why? Because a trifecta is precisely the moment when gerrymandering is most tempting and most dangerous. When one party controls every lever of state government, the standard approval process offers no meaningful check. The minority leader requirement ensures that even in a trifecta, maps cannot pass without demonstrating genuine cross-party support.

If the maps are fair — truly fair — getting minority leader sign-off shouldn't be a problem. If it is a problem, that tells you everything you need to know about the maps.

The Bottom Line:

The DRAW Act doesn't pick winners. It doesn't favor one party over another. It simply says that district maps should reflect communities — not be engineered in backrooms to protect the people who drew them. Every Wisconsin voter, regardless of party, deserves to live in a district that was drawn fairly. The DRAW Act guarantees it.