Fair Districts PA to hold redistricting forum on Feb. 8
POTTSTOWN >> The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown will host Fair Districts PA speaker Chuck Yeiser to explain PA’s current redistricting process, demonstrate how it undermines democracy, then offer a solution to the problem.
The forum is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. and is open to the public.
Pottstown has been divided among three state representative districts and two senate districts even though our state constitution specifically states “Unless absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a senatorial or representative district.”
Census taking has begun in Alaska and it will begin everywhere in earnest on April 1. After the census comes redistricting and, if nothing changes, gerrymandering. If redistricting reform legislation is not passed in the next few months, we will be living with gerrymandered congressional and state legislative maps for the next decade.
Fair Districts PA invites all interested residents in Berks, Chester, and Montgomery counties to come learn more about the efforts to ensure that our maps are:
Not red. Not Blue. Just Fair.
House Bill 23 creates, by statute, an Independent Citizens Commission to draw congressional maps. House Bill 22 extends the role of the Independent Citizens
Commission, by state constitutional amendment, to put the redistricting power for both our congressional and state legislative districts in the hands of an independent citizens commission.
Two bills will lead to one commission. Commissioners would be randomly selected from a list of qualified candidates who would be held accountable to make the redistricting process fair, transparent and provide for meaningful public input.
According to Carol Kuniholm, chairwoman of Fair Districts PA: “The U.S. is the only major democracy that allows legislators a role in drawing their own district lines. A strong majority of Pennsylvania voters want an end to this conflict of interest.”