Freda R. Savana
The Bucks County League of Women Voters and dozens of supporters turned out in Doylestown Borough last week to join efforts to end gerrymandering in Pennsylvania.
People Powered Fair Maps National Day of Action drew attention to the Legislative and Congressional Redistricting Act - House Bill 22 and Senate Bill 222. LACRA would require fairer rules for redistricting and would allow for more transparency and public engagement in the state’s redistricting process, said redistricting advocates. It would also outlaw districting plans designed to protect incumbents or discriminate against political parties.
The Legislative Reapportionment Commission will determine the boundaries of voting districts. The commission has two members from each party – House and Senate leaders. The members had reached a stalemate on appointment of a chair but on Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court appointed Mark A. Nordenberg, chancellor emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh, as the chair of the commission.
The commission was created to study best practices in nonpartisan redistricting and safeguard election integrity and fairness. It had until April 30 to select a fifth person to chair its two-Democrats and two-Republicans board. When it was unable to reach a consensus, the decision went to the state’s Supreme Court.
“I can’t stress how important this issue is,” Bucks County Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo told the gathering outside the former county courthouse. DiGirolamo, a Republican who served as a state representative in Harrisburg, said the legislation, sponsored by State Rep. Wendy Thomas (R-178), “is the most important thing we can do.”
Among the goals of the legislation are a user-friendly website that would allow the public free access to data and maps on redistricting, statewide hearings before and after redistricting and the ability to submit a redistricting plan or part of a plan that the state’s redistricting commission must review.
“The consensus in our area is, we want fair districts,” said Tamara Gureghian, who attended the Doylestown event. The country “is much better when you have fairness,” she said.
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