Forget one-person, one-vote for redistricting. You might not be aware of this, but our system goes so far as to employ one-prisoner, one-vote — even though prisoners can’t vote!
Wisconsin Public Radio reports that a Democratic state Assemblyman from Milwaukee, Fred Kessler, is complaining about the fact that Census data, which is the basis for redistricting, counts prisoners in the areas where they happen to be involuntarily living.
Kessler is now seeking to amend the state constitution so that prisoners wouldn’t be counted for the purposes of redistricting, because the status quo gives a disproportionate level of representation to all the other people in prison districts who aren’t incarcerated — that is, the residents who can actually vote — compared to the voting public in areas that don’t have prisons.
From the report by Wisconsin Public Radio: “Oshkosh Republican Rep. Richard Spanbauer’s Assembly district includes the Waupun Prison. That means he represents thousands of inmates. He says regardless of what you feel about prisoners, you have to count them.”
Well, that’s awfully progressive of him.
