A new way to redistrict proposed in Pennsylvania

In September, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives State Government Committee will have a hearing on redistricting, gerrymandering, and two proposed bills currently before the House.

House Bills 22 and 23 recommend a nonpartisan independent citizen’s redistricting commission, effectively taking the job away from self-interested partisan legislators who have shown a willingness to cut their opponents out of representation.

• HB 22 is a constitutional amendment that will use an independent commission to select maps for legislative districts. • HB 23 is an ordinary bill that will use the same independent commission to choose maps for congressional districts.

Over 40 percent of the House are in bipartisan support of the bills; those who have not co-sponsored voice two main objections:

1) HB 22 cannot be passed in time for 2021 redistricting, and 2) no commission can be nonpartisan.

If we pass HB 22 this session and again next session, it can go to referendum in May 2021.

The commission will already be set up, assuming HB 23 passed concurrently.

Districting is computerized and takes only hours to complete. The maps must be appraised throughout the state by the public, who may comment.

That’s it.

Entirely possible to accomplish if everyone is agreed. Sixty-nine percent of voters already agree, according to a Franklin & Marshall poll.

Regarding nonpartisanship: People are partisan but the commission is nonpartisan.

Most of us instinctively understand this concept: it’s what we do at work every day. Eligible applicants will understand the need to seek accommodation with one another and will grasp the difficulties of preparing a map without bias.

Supporters of the two major parties and third-party or nonaffiliated voters are encouraged to apply.

Not eligible is anyone in or running for elected office, including family members or lobbyists, nor may any commissioner run for office or become a lobbyist for three years after the end of their term.

A multi-step process involving computerized random selection at several junctures during the commission selection process takes place until there are four each from two major parties and three from the unaffiliated group.

The 11-member team will represent the gender, racial, geographic diversity of the state. This team will be responsible for choosing the maps in a transparent way, with public input.

This method is much more likely to produce a nonpartisan outcome than legislators’ unabashed acknowledgment that they gerrymander to protect themselves.

We the people have the right to alter and reform the constitution. Since the U.S. Supreme Court refused to address gerrymandering in federal courts, the need to use state measures to address the issue has become imperative.