In a very short period of time, we will all be divided into new state House and Senate districts. This happens every 10 years and it matters because what district we live in decides who we can vote for and who can help us when we have issues that require input from representatives and senators.
The committee that decides what these maps look like, the Legislative Reapportionment Committee (LRC), is open to reviewing maps drawn by any Pennsylvanian—including you. Feel free to draw a map and submit it for review by Dec. 3.
Alternatively, you can check out the maps submitted by Fair Districts PA (FDPA). These maps are aptly called The People’s House and Senate Map. After years of working toward fair redistricting, FDPA held a contest to find fair maps drafted by everyday citizens. They then culminated the maps into one fair House map and one fair Senate map, each of which far out does the current maps in terms of compactness, minimizing the splitting of counties, ensuring minority representation, having a fair number of majority/minority districts and keeping within population requirements. (If these terms are confusing to you, check out the FDPA website, they do a phenomenal job explaining the criteria that make up fair maps).
The fact that the LRC is even entertaining maps from citizens and seeking input from the public is a huge win for FDPA and the citizens of Pennsylvania. We now must all do our part and let the LRC know we are thankful for the opportunity by writing to them with our own maps or offering support for maps like the People’s Map.
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