[media-credit name=’BRYAN FAUST/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]State legislators introduced a bill Thursday to increase competition of federal and state elections by eliminating gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison and twenty other legislators at a press conference at the Capitol, proposes to ask a non-partisan Joint Legislative Council to develop a new system of redistricting to increase election choices.

Black said the current system, in which the Legislature ultimately determines the districts, stifles competition. Of the eight congressional districts in Wisconsin, none are competitive, Black said.

“The vast majority of people went to the voting booth [in the 2004 election] and for all practical purposes, their vote didn’t count,” Black said. “My bill would set up an independent, non-partisan redistricting approach … that would not be personally beneficial but would be [beneficial] for the people.”

A wide range of bipartisan groups and citizens also attended the conference in support of the new proposal. Leaders from Common Cause in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the People’s Legislature and other government watchdog groups attended the conference.

Executive Director of Common Cause Jay Heck said the current system of redistricting does not allow people to truly choose who represents them. In the 2004 election, there were really only six to seven competitive seats up for election in the state Assembly and Senate, according to Heck.

“There is no choice [with the current system],” Heck said. “Most people don’t have a choice for who represents them because the districts are drawn so there is almost a guaranteed winner.”

The proposed legislation is similar to the system currently in operation in Iowa in which a non-partisan group determines redistricting areas. In Iowa, the independent redistricting board does not restrict a candidate to a particular district, which allows for more competition in each zone, according to Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Outreach Director Debby Anderson Meyer.

“Black has proposed what Iowa has — a system that is non-partisan — and which the Legislature has to accept,” Heck said. “The beauty of it is they have a very competitive system. They have elections that mean something.”

Anderson Meyer said the bill needs to be signed into law if Wisconsin wants to change to a healthy democracy.

“In the last round of elections, 40 percent [of incumbents] had no opposition — that’s like voting in Iran,” Anderson Meyer said. “Everyone tries to redraw [districts] to keep party seats safe.”

The use of taxpayer money is another concern with the current redistricting system. According to Anderson Meyer, redistricting costs the state thousands of dollars because legislators pay “huge legal fees” to challenge the changes in districts.

“We would save a lot of money [with Black’s plan] just in [legal fees] alone,” Anderson Meyer said. “For a healthy democracy, we support this big time.”

Districts are redrawn after the completion of the U.S. Census, and thus the next time redistricting will occur is 2010.

While this is five years in the future, the state needs to start now to get the public engaged in the issue and build support for what will be a tough battle, Heck said.