Organization seeks solution to redistricting

Fair Districts PA is calling for a constitutional amendment that would reform the redistricting process.

WEST CHESTER » Recently, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court released a new state congressional district map with just 13 split counties and some genuinely competitive districts. The map was the culmination of a lawsuit filed by the League of Women Voters, a number of court orders, judicial opinions and subsequent legal challenges. This entire process demonstrated the need for a more fair and transparent way to handle congressional redistricting, which regularly occurs following the U.S. Census. Citizens from Chester County and across the state are lobbying for a constitutional amendment that would permanently keep gerrymandering out of the redistricting process by taking legislative map-drawing out of the legislators’ hands.

“The focus of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and Legislature is on the current map and not the permanent reform needed to end gerrymandering” said Mark Pavlovich, a member of the Chester County Steering Committee of Fair Districts PA, a non-partisan, statewide citizens group pushing for redistricting reform. Pavlovich noted that “the process unfolding now makes it clearer than ever that a new approach to redistricting is critical.”

When the Pennsylvania Legislature failed to submit a new map enacted by appropriate legislative process, it opened the door to submission of multiple maps — prompting discussion of fairness, partisan advantage and appropriate ways to measure districts.

Members of Fair Districts PA in Chester County believe discussions like this should be part of every redistricting process. They have joined thousands of citizens from across the state in asking legislators to pass a constitutional amendment that would reform the redistricting process by the end of the current legislative session in June.

“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision is a win for all Pennsylvania voters because it reaffirms one of the most fundamental principles of our system of representative democracy — the right of the people, not political party leaders, to decide who will represent us in the halls of government,” said Carol Kuniholm, chair of Fair Districts PA. “Extreme partisan gerrymandering undermines the people’s faith in their own government and now the state Supreme Court has ruled that it also violates our state Constitution. But the ultimate win would be a transparent process that invites citizen input and ends the conflict of interest that allows party leaders to ensure their own repeated reelection.”

Legislation that would provide a permanent fix by creating an independent citizens redistricting commission has been gaining support in both the state House and Senate since it was introduced early in the legislative session.

House Bill 722 has 109 cosponsors, more than any other bill introduced in this 2017-2018 session. Senate Bill 22 has been steadily gaining co-sponsorship

from both parties and now has 18 cosponsors. In Chester County, all four senators (Andy Dinniman, Tom Killion, Tom McGarrigle, and John Rafferty) are cosponsors while five members of the House of Representatives – Carolyn Comitta, Becky Corbin, Warren Kampf, Duane Milne and Eric Roe – are cosponsors.

But both bills remain in their respective State Government Committees, despite strong public interest. After more than a year of delay, Senate Bill 22 is now scheduled for a first consideration on March 27.

In the House, committee chair Rep. Daryl Metcalfe insists that he will not allow consideration of HB 722, despite repeated requests from constituents, colleagues and members of his committee.

If the process is not reformed before the next round of redistricting in 2021, we will face more partisan gerrymandering, more litigation and even further loss of confidence in the integrity of our elections.

According to Pavlovich, several thousand voters from Chester County signed a petition asking legislators to support HB 722 and SB 22.

Fair Districts PA leaders suggest that these bills need to be passed by the

end of the legislative session in June so that they can move to a public vote to turn them into a constitutional amendment.

“The fight to reclaim our democracy is far from over,” Kuniholm said. “Our Legislature has demonstrated a sad inability to act in an impartial way on behalf of PA voters. We ask them to affirm our right to alter and reform our government and to vote in free and equal elections. We urge them to enact SB 22 and HB 722 quickly to ensure an independent citizens redistricting commission. That’s the only way to prevent partisan gerrymandering in Pennsylvania and the resultant confusion of corrective litigation.”