Carol Kuniholm, Chair of Fair Districts for PA, spoke on the process of gerrymandering at the Deane Center in Wellsboro on February 24, 2020 at 6:30 p.m.
Kuniholm has spoken in 26 Pennsylvania counties about gerrymandering and why electoral maps matter to the people. Gerrymandering is the term that describes the manipulation of electoral maps for political advantage. She said, “We are going to talk about gerrymandering, how it impacts voters, how it cuts out your voice, and what we’re trying to do to change that.”
She explained that reapportionment, the process of determining how seats in legislative bodies are distributed, occurs every ten years after obtaining U.S. Census information. In Pennsylvania, congressional redistricting is determined by a five-person commission and then voted on by the Governor. Two members of the commission are Republicans, two are Democrats, and the final person is chosen by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Because of this system, redistricting tends to eliminate competition within districts.
Kuniholm said that Pennsylvania has one of the most secretive reapportionment processes in the country. She explained that what often occurs is that both parties want safe districts that they can win easily, so they work together to draw off all the competitive areas in the state. If lines were drawn equally, Kuniholm said, “there would be large areas across the state that would be very competitive and force more dialogue in our legislature.”
Kuniholm represents Fair Districts PA, a nonpartisan coalition that began in January 2016 after examining the reapportionment from 2011. Its mission is to create a fair process for redistricting in Pennsylvania. The coalition supports a bill that will eliminate the five-person commission currently in place and introduce an independent, nonpartisan group of at least ten people to draw the maps.
Kuniholm thinks positively about the future and believes that the voters are tired of an unaccountable legislature. She said, “The people who draw the lines are the people who set the agenda are the people who set the process. And that’s what we’re trying to change.”
Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org