For fair fights

Redraw boundaries to kill off ‘safe seats’ for any

Democrats have used redistricting to their advantage. Republicans have, too. For a change, why not draw the state’s congressional and legislative districts in a way that benefits the people of Pennsylvania instead of one major political party or the other?

That’s the vision of Fair Districts PA, an effort supported by the League of Women Voters, the government watchdog group Common Cause and other civic and political organizations. Fair District PA’s recipe for change is a state constitutional amendment that would put the redrawing of congressional and legislative boundaries in the hands of an “independent citizens commission.”

Leading an appropriately bipartisan charge on this issue in the General Assembly are Sens. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh, and Mario Scavello, R-Monroe, who have sponsored legislation for an 11-citizen panel to be made up of Republicans, Democrats and citizens registered with neither party. Under the bill, commission members could not be elected officials or party officials or work for officeholders. Unsurprisingly, the pair’s colleagues aren’t rushing to support the legislation.

Congressional and legislative districts are redrawn after the U.S. census every 10 years. Right now, congressional boundaries are fixed by the General Assembly, and the party with the most seats in Harrisburg generally tries to push through a map designed to preserve, or enlarge, the party’s influence in Washington. Legislative districts are redrawn by the General Assembly’s leaders, with a tie-breaker, if needed, selected by the politically minded state Supreme Court.

Redistricting to achieve a desired political outcome is called gerrymandering, and the process results in “safe” districts for incumbents at the legislative and congressional levels. As Fair Districts PA says on its website, “politicians are picking their voters, not the other way around.” Without competition, incumbents have less reason to interact with voters or worry about accountability. At the state level, redistricting helps to keep a party’s rank and file in line because members who raise their heads too high can have them lopped off during the next game of musical chairs.

None of that is good for Pennsylvanians, who would benefit from a more robust political process in which incumbents must work for re-election and fairly drawn districts would encourage, rather than discourage, competition. The playing field now is so uneven that some incumbents go years without competition and the challengers who do throw their hats into the ring do so knowing that they’re doing little more than tilting at windmills.

Redistricting isn’t the only reason for a party’s fortune or misfortune, though. The 2016 presidential election clearly illuminated the Democratic Party’s need to focus its efforts on the bread-and-butter issues important to middle-class voters.

Fair Districts PA has been holding meetings around the state to call attention to the sorry state of redistricting. So many people turned out for a recent forum in Mt. Lebanon that the crowd exceeded the room’s occupancy limit. That’s a great turnout for a group trying to educate voters about a complex and tedious subject. Supporters will have to work hard to keep the pressure on because constitutional amendments, requiring legislative and voter approval, take years to achieve.

Gerrymandering in this country has existed at least since the early 19th century, as Fair Districts PA points out. As an outgrowth of the civil rights movement, “majorityminority” districts were drawn to increase the number of black officeholders around the country. But the process, like much about politics, has been twisted and corrupted for partisan gain. It’s high time for change. It’s time for Pennsylvania’s congressmen and legislators to be selected in politically balanced districts.