Two Bucks County municipalities recently adopted a resolution to end Pennsylvania electoral gerrymandering.
The Yardley borough council on Tuesday, May 21, unanimously adopted a resolution seeking to end gerrymandering in Pennsylvania by supporting legislation calling for nonpartisan redistricting reform proposed by Fair Districts PA.
On Wednesday, May 22, the New Hope borough council unanimously adopted a similar support resolution.
Gerrymandering is the practice of a governing party gaining unfair political advantage by manipulating electoral district boundaries to its advantage.
The resolutions document the municipalities’ support of legislation that would end the current practice of politicians drawing the boundaries of their own voting districts. It also calls on every elected Langhorne official to publicly support and work for passage of that legislation.
Yardley is the 20th Bucks County municipality to adopt a Fair Districts PA support resolution and New Hope is the 21st Bucks County municipality, said Mare Kremser, the Fair Districts PA – Bucks County resolution lead.
The two municipalities join more than 280 Pennsylvania municipalities and 20 Pennsylvania counties in passing support resolutions for Fair Districts PA.
Fair Districts PA has continued sponsoring legislation to reform the gerrymandering rules, which dictate legislators draw their own electoral district maps.
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 a state constitutional amendment, to put the redistricting power for both the Pennsylvania congressional and state legislative districts into the hands of an independent citizens commission.
The two bills will create 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.
Action on the two support resolutions was initiated by Fair Districts PA – Bucks County, a nonpartisan, grassroots organization advocating for redistricting reform across Pennsylvania.
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