If Wisconsin had picked its Electoral College Delegates using a Congressional District Method, Trump would have Received 6 of Wisconsin’s 10 Votes in the 2020 Election.

And that is what a New Bill authored by Rep. Gary Tauchen (R-6th District, Bonduel) would do. It would make Wisconsin a State where the Winner of the Popular Vote does Not get All Electoral College Votes. Tauchen’s Bill (LRB 0513/1) would Distribute the Presidential Electors by Assigning One Vote for each of Wisconsin’s Eight Congressional Districts, then giving the remaining Two Electors to the Statewide Winner of the Popular Vote. Tauchen began Circulating his Bill on Jan. 5th.

That would exacerbate Partisanship and give added Incentive to Gerrymander the Map of Wisconsin’s Congressional Districts to favor One Party over the Other, says UW-Madison Prof. Barry Burden, Founder and Director of the Elections Research Center.

“Doing it by congressional district is actually a terrible idea, because what it will do is amp up the partisan efforts to draw those districts to favor one side or the other,” says Burden. “It’s already an ugly process, but it will be on steroids if those districts affect not only control of Congress but also control the presidency.”

The Congressional Districts are now Gerrymandered by Republicans to favor Republicans, Five of the Eight Districts are held by Republicans. But U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-3rd District, Western Wisconsin) went to Trump in both 2016 and 2020, although Kind has continued to be Elected to Congress, however with Shrinking Margins as Rural Wisconsin gets more Republican and Suburbs lean increasingly toward Democrats.

Burden says, “There would suddenly be interest in parties trying to control every little district that right now is of no consequence for controlling Congress, even,” adds Burden. “But in Wisconsin it would be both. And so I worried that it would actually exacerbate the partisan wrangling over election rules. And that’s one thing we don’t do more of at this point.”

Current, Two States Allocate Votes by Congressional District: Maine has Two and Nebraska has Three.

The Bill was Introduced once before, in 2007, with Tauchen as the Author and it died in Committee. That same year, he also introduced a Bill to Eliminate Voters’ Ability to Vote a Straight-Party Ticket, which I agree with.

In the Current Session, Changing Election Laws will be an Assembly Republican Top Priority, according to Speaker Robin Vos (R-63rd District), who emphasized its importance in his Inaugural Address. “Wisconsin learned over the last year that we must restore confidence in the electoral process,” said Vos. “I invite every single legislator on both sides of the aisle to join our efforts. We want to put these important innovations into law and into practice.”










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker