Dunn County will notify all registered voters after April 2 of new state Assembly and Senate districts
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By LeAnn R.Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County clerk plans to notify all registered voters in the county of the new state Assembly and Senate districts after the April 2 election.
The new state Assembly and Senate districts will be in effect for the August primary and the November elections, and then any newly elected representatives and senators will be sworn into office in January, said Andrew Mercil, Dunn County clerk, at the Dunn County Board’s March 20 meeting.
Providing information about the new Assembly and Senate district maps before the April 2 election could have created confusion for Dunn County voters, he said.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the Assembly and Senate districts that went into effect in 2021 and ordered the districts redrawn, Mercil said.
Majorities
Wisconsin Assembly and Senate districts have been determined by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to be gerrymandered.
The act of gerrymandering is described as manipulating the boundaries of an electoral constituency to favor one political party or class — or in other words, the political party draws the district maps in such a way that the representatives and senators select their voters rather than the voters selecting the representatives and senators who will serve.
The current Assembly and Senate maps have guaranteed Republican control of the state Assembly and Senate since 2011 when redistricting occurred after the 2010 census.
In 2002, there were 18 Republicans in the state Senate and 15 Democrats, according to Ballotpedia.org.
In 2004, there were 19 Republicans in the state Senate and 14 Democrats.
In 2006 and 2008, there were 18 Democrats in the state Senate and 15 Republicans.
In 2010, there were 19 Republicans in the state Senate and 14 Democrats.
The Republicans maintained control of the Senate from then on, and there are currently 22 Republicans in the state Senate and 11 Democrats.
In the state Assembly, in 2004, there were 60 Republicans and 39 Democrats, according to Ballotpedia.org.
In 2006, there were 52 Republicans in the state Assembly and 47 Democrats.
In 2008, there were 52 Democrats in the state Assembly and 46 Republicans.
In 2010, there were 60 Republicans in the state Assembly and 38 Democrats.
The Republicans maintained control of the state Assembly from then on, and there are currently 64 Republicans in the state assembly and 35 Democrats, according to Ballotpedia.org.
According to an article published on the Marquette Law School website titled “Why Do Republicans Overperform in the Wisconsin State Assembly,” “Any plausible Assembly map for the 2020s would probably still create a system where Republicans would win a majority of the seats even when Democrats win 51% of the vote statewide. But a non-gerrymandered map would increase, at least somewhat, the number of seats that either party could realistically win … An Assembly map drawn for the 2020s without partisan consideration would likely recreate the status quo of the 2000s.”
Current maps
Under the current Assembly district maps, Representative Clint Moses (R-Menomonie) lives in the 29th Assembly District, Mercil said.
After the new Assembly district maps go into effect, Representative Moses will no longer live in the 29th Assembly District and will then reside in the 92nd Assembly District, he said.
If Representative Moses decides to run for re-election, he will run in the 92nd Assembly District instead of his current 29th Assembly District, Mercil said.
The 92nd Assembly District is currently represented by Treig Pronschinske (R-Mondovi).
The current map for the 29th Assembly District includes in Dunn County the Towns of New Haven, Sheridan, Wilson, Tiffany, Hay River, Stanton, Sherman, Tainter, Colfax, Lucas, Menomonie, Red Cedar and Elk Mound, along with the Villages of Ridgeland, Downing, Boyceville, Wheeler, Colfax and Elk Mound and the City of Menomonie, according to information Mercil provided to the Dunn County Board.
Under the new Assembly maps, the 92nd Assembly District in Dunn County will include the Towns of Menomonie, Red Cedar and Elk Mound, along with the Village of Elk Mound and the City of Menomonie.
Under the new Assembly district maps, the 28th Assembly District in Dunn County will include the Villages of Downing and Knapp, and the Towns of Stanton, Lucas, Weston and Eau Galle.
More complicated
The new Assembly and Senate district maps have caused a question that has not yet been answered.
Representative of the 63rd Assembly District, Robin Vos (R-Burlington) and the Speaker of the State Assembly, is the subject of a recall petition.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump are upset that Vos did not support efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and filed recall petitions.
No one can agree if Vos should be recalled in the current district he represents or if he should be recalled in the new Assembly district — or if he should be recalled at all, Mercil told the Dunn County Board.
According to various news stories, Vos has said that he does not believe the recall petitions have enough valid signatures to force a recall election for his position.
67th Assembly District
The 67th Assembly District is currently represented by Rob Summerfield (R-Bloomer).
In Dunn County, the 67th Assembly District currently includes the Towns of Sand Creek, Otter Creek and Grant.
Mercil said he believes Representative Summerfield will be in a new Assembly district, but that Summerfield’s new assembly district will not include any of Dunn County.
The new 67th Assembly District will include the Towns of New Haven, Sheridan, Wilson, Sand Creek, Tiffany, Hay River, Otter Creek, Grant, Sherman, Tainter and Colfax, along with the Villages of Ridgeland, Boyceville, Wheeler and Colfax.
93rd Assembly District
Representative Warren Petryk (R-Eau Claire) currently represents the 93rd Assembly District.
Representative Petryk’s new assembly district will be the 29th Assembly District, Mercil said.
The 93rd Assembly District currently includes in Dunn County the Towns of Weston, Eau Galle, Dunn, Spring Brook, Peru and Rock Creek.
The new 93rd Assembly District will include the Towns of Dunn, Spring Brook, Peru and Rock Creek.
The new 29th Assembly District will not include any of Dunn County.
Senate districts
Currently, state Senator Rob Stafsholt (R-New Richmond) represents the 10th Senate District, while Senator Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) represents the 31st Senate District, and Senator Jesse James (R-Altoona) represents the 23rd Senate District.
Under the new maps, Senator Smith and Senator James will be in the same district that Senator Smith currently represents, the 31st Senate District, Mercil said.
If they both decide to run for re-election, they will be competing with each other, he said.
In Dunn County, the current 10th Senate District represented by Senator Stafsholt includes the Towns of New Haven, Sheridan, Wilson, Tiffany, Hay River, Stanton, Sherman, Tainter, Colfax, Lucas, Menomonie, Red Cedar and Elk Mound, along with the Villages of Ridgeland, Downing, Boyceville, Wheeler, Knapp, Colfax, Elk Mound and the City of Menomonie.
One senate district in Wisconsin includes three assembly districts.
The new 10th Senate District in Dunn County will include the Villages of Downing and Knapp and the Towns of Stanton, Lucas, Weston and Eau Galle.
The current 23rd Senate District, represented by Senator Jesse James, in Dunn County includes the Towns of Sand Creek, Otter Creek and Grant.
The new 23rd Senate District in Dunn County will include the Towns of New Haven, Sheridan Wilson, Sand Creek, Tiffany, Hay River, Wheeler, Otter Creek, Grant, Sherman, Tainter and Colfax along with the Villages of Ridgeland, Boyceville, Wheeler and Colfax.
The 31st Senate District, currently represented by Senator Jeff Smith, in Dunn County includes the Towns of Weston, Eau Galle, Dunn, Spring Brook, Peru and Rock Creek.
The new 31st Senate District in Dunn County will include the Towns of Menomonie, Red Cedar, Elk Mound, Dunn, Spring Brook, Peru and Rock Creek, along with the Village of Elk Mound and the City of Menomonie.
Extra costs
Mailing out the information on the new senate and assembly districts to Dunn County voters is an unanticipated cost for the Dunn County clerk’s office, Mercil said.
Fortunately, Mercil said, he had budgeted in some extra money for elections in 2024 because when the budget was proposed, it was anticipated that the redistricting may occur and that voters would have to be notified about the new districts.
Referendum questions
Mercil answered several questions from Dunn County Board supervisors about the state-wide referendum questions that will be on the ballot April 2 that would amend the Wisconsin Constitution.
The first referendum question deals with municipalities no longer being able to accept private donations and grant money from non-governmental sources for elections.
Private donations also could include the use of non-governmental buildings to be used for elections or any equipment owned by a non-governmental body to be used for elections.
The second referendum question deals with only election officials designated by state law being able to complete election-related tasks.
Both referendum questions stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic and additional costs and unusual circumstances presented by the pandemic, Mercil said.
Increased costs
The bottom line of Mercil’s answers regarding the two state-wide referendum questions is that if they are approved, both questions could end up increasing the cost of elections for municipalities and could end up closing some polling locations.
If municipal clerks do not receive enough money from their municipalities to run elections, they could close some polling places, Mercil said.
Non-governmental grants, especially for larger municipalities, could supply additional funds if the money was needed for an extraordinary circumstance, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Regarding the second question, poll workers are sworn in by the municipal clerks, and as such, are considered to be election officials designated by state law.
Poll workers, however, also are volunteers for the position and are not hired, even though they may be compensated by the municipality for training and for working at elections.
If poll workers assist the municipal clerk with some other task, such as processing absentee ballots to be mailed out, they could not volunteer to do those tasks but, instead, would have to be paid, Mercil said.
In a larger municipality where there might be, say, 1,000 absentee ballots to mail out, that would substantially add to the municipal clerk’s workload, and volunteers who are officially election officials under state law could no longer volunteer but would have to be paid, he said.
Many municipal clerks are part-time and work another full-time job, Mercil noted.
There are more than 1,800 municipalities in Wisconsin, and many of the clerks in smaller, rural townships work part-time for the municipality.
Voter information
The second referendum question also would eliminate volunteer groups from helping people to become registered as voters, Mercil said.
The proposed amendment to the Wisconsin Constitutions refers to “any task in the conduct of any primary, election or referendum.”
One Dunn County Board supervisor asked if there would be any local ordinances that could be passed to over-ride the two state-wide referendum questions if they were approved.
If both or either of the state-wide referendum questions are approved, the Wisconsin Constitution would be amended, and municipalities would not be able to pass any ordinances to over-ride the constitution, Mercil said.
The League of Women Voters, for example, is a volunteer group that helps people become registered to vote and provides information about voter registration, along with providing other election information, such as the proper form of identification that can be used for elections.
The League of Women Voters does have questionnaires for candidates and will provide that information on the League’s website if the candidates fill out the questionnaires, but the League of Women Voters does not advocate for candidates or suggest that voters vote for one candidate rather than another candidate.
