Letter: We still need redistricting reform

Saturday February 17, 2018

​Change in process can end confusion.

​Editor:

With less than three months until the May 15 primary, Pennsylvanians do not know which congressional districts are theirs. Incumbents and candidates seeking U.S. House seats do not know where to campaign.

Pennsylvania has a huge, court-ordered mess on its hands and very little time to get it right. How did we get here? What's the way out?

We got here by way of a faulty redistricting system that can be rigged, and it led us down the road to voter disenfranchisement and extreme partisanship.

There is a silver lining; we are reaching a watershed.


Pennsylvanians are making the connection that gerrymandered districts hurt democracy. The need to structurally reform our redistricting process has never been clearer.


It's up to us to fix this, and we must.


Two bills in the state Legislature, HB722 and SB22, offer a permanent solution and put in place a constitutional amendment guaranteeing that a citizen's commission take charge of the redistricting process.


We take partisan positions on issues, but we need bipartisan agreement on fair rules for politics. Court orders are not the solution.


We need a way toward a better standard of governance. I urge readers to tell their legislators to support HB722 and SB22 and thank them if they do.


Jennifer Hanf
Centre Township

We still need redistricting reform