FairElectionsProject

Read about our case, Whitford v. Gill, in the New York Times! mobile.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/us/…

We need #fairmaps. We believe the current court will give the litigants a fair hearing, although the outcome is of course unsure. That seems a better process than trusting Robin Vos. 17/x

The devil is in the details. And not one word of media coverage should flow without massive skepticism until every detail is disclosed and every question answered. 16/x

The insincerity of this proposal, to put forward a bill (maybe, because who has seen the text) that he strongly opposed before, with no transparency and no effort at bipartisanship, is apparent. 15/x

Vos’ unconstitutional and unconscionable impeachment gambit has apparently failed in the face of withering criticism, and a public lack of support from his own team. 14/x

There are many more questions than answers in this desperate Hail-Mary, thrown by a hobbled QB behind an overmatched offensive line, and with no pro-level receivers down the field. 13/x

Can the legislature ignore the staff-drawn map? Or direct the staff to use some criteria, such as election data, to bias the map? Will Robin Vos’ lies about geographic density of various types of voters influence the process? 12/x

They should ask, when do the maps have to be complete? Can the Supreme Court step in and impose a map if the legislature doesn’t meet a reasonable deadline? 11/x

Reporters should read the most recent bill, introduced by @repandraca and @sensmithwi , with bipartisan support, and compare to whatever @speakerVos unilaterally puts forward. 10/x

They must strive to create Fair Maps, while respecting local boundaries and communities of interest. 9/x

We also make clear the map-drawers, although employees of the legislature, cannot be influenced by the Speaker and his allies. They cannot take incumbency or incumbents’ residences or election results into account. 8/x

That’s unacceptable and we require a massive two-house super-majority of 75% to ignore the independent maps. 7/x

This includes important differences from Iowa. First and foremost, there’s no “Out” in the real Wisconsin version of the bill. In Iowa, the legislature can reject independently-drawn maps, and then eventually just substitute their own. 6/x

While some of our partners in the @wifairmapsco were broadly supportive of the Iowa model before we co-founded the coalition, all now agree that any discussion MUST start with the 2021 version of the bill. 5/x

We have NEVER endorsed the Iowa model in its entirety. It always needed modifications to work in Wisconsin. 4/x

For years, this bill has been bipartisan. Not only were no Dems present, they weren’t invited, and as we understand it, still haven’t been shared on the bill text. So… color us skeptical. 3/x

Of course, he didn’t invite any Democrats, and he didn’t release the bill text. When legislators introduced versions of the bill we supported, our staff (usually @skchheda, who has since left us) joined them at the press conference. 2/x

Well, the questions are coming in about Speaker Vos’ partisan move today to supposedly endorse the Coalition’s fair maps bill. 🧵 1/x

"...we have a system ... when huge majorities of Wisconsinites say they want something, the majority party in the Legislature chooses to not even debate it," Chheda said. "What you’re doing isn’t right — it’s immoral, it’s unethical, it’s anti-American." wpr.org/what-youre-doi…

Our message to voters – VOTE. Vote like your life, our country, our democracy, and our future depends on it. They may try to make it harder or stop you, but this is the very idea of America – we must all vote.

Voters of every political persuasion want elections to be transparent and simple. It’s way past time for right-wing politicians to put aside their partisan motivations and patriotically come to the table to improve election administration with common-sense reforms.

FEP Director @skchheda said this about yesterday’s decision: “The decision by a federal judge to carve out a small sliver of hope in our democracy is a necessary but hardly sufficient step to making our elections stronger." jsonline.com/story/news/pol…