East Marlborough Township supervisors have joined the fight to end gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. The board voted 4-0 Monday to sign a resolution endorsing two pieces of legislation that would change how congressional districts are drawn in the state.
The bills, HB 722 and SB 22, would require an amendment to the state Constitution to create an 11-member redistricting commission made up of four members of the majority political party, four members of the second most populace party and three independent or third party members.
Currently, redistricting when needed, is done by a five-member commission consisting of the majority and minority leaders of the state House and Senate — or people appointed by them — and a fifth member who they agree upon or if they don't agree, someone appointed by the state Supreme Court.
"Both parties have taken advantage of this," said Supervisors' Vice Chairman John Sarro before the vote.
Voting with Sarro were chairman Richard Hannum and Supervisors Eddie Caudill and Robert Weer. Supervisor Christine Kimmel was absent.
The board had previously heard from members of Fair Districts PA, the group spearheading public awareness of gerrymandering, and heard a brief recap from several them during the June 5 meeting.
Ed Blanchard told supervisors that the United States in the "only western democracy that allows politicians to create the voting districts. All the other western democracies have independent commissions." He went on to say four states, including California, have already created independent commissions.
"We the people value our vote. We want our vote to count. We would like to see this reform movement move as a wave through local government to Harrisburg," Blanchard said.
He noted that several local governments, including Kennett Square and Pocopson Township, have already voted for the movement and asked East Marlborough to join. FairDistrictsPa.com, the group's website, lists 36 municipalities and counties have already passed similar resolutions.
Basil Moss said it's really "common sense." He noted that the 16th Congressional District — represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by Lloyd Smucker — consists mostly of Lancaster County agriculture and Chester County horse farm country, but there's also a Reading, a small, blue-collar city in Berks County where residents have nothing in common with the rest of the district, leaving Reading residents misrepresented.
"[Smucker's] mission is to manage the expectations of high-income suburban residents…He's serving his prime constituency in Lancaster County," Moss said adding "I don't think there's any way he can look at himself in the mirror every morning and say he's going to do justice to that diversity."
Ending politicized redistricting is "a no-brainer," he said.
Another person, Ron Whitaker, cited an unnamed study that indicated Pennsylvania was one of the three worst states for gerrymandering along with Michigan and North Carolina. But he also said an article in last month's Fortune Magazine ranked Pennsylvania as the number one most gerrymandered state in the country.
The purpose of gerrymandering, he said, is to keep politicians in office. "The aim of is to create safe districts and safe seats. A politician in a safe seat can produce legislation to favor his own personal views or just go along with the platform of their party."
That has a negative impact on voters and those who want to challenge incumbents.
"What happens then is that voters realize that their votes don't count. They can vote all they want, but it doesn't make any difference, so they stop voting," Whitaker said. "People who might run against those seats have to consider it's going to be very expensive and they'll probably lose, so they step aside. So you have a populace that doesn't vote and a politician that doesn't care and candidates who can't afford to run. That's not democracy."
Whitaker had previously presented the board with petitions signed by more than 400 East Marlborough residents with another 197 online petitions asking the supervisors to pass a resolution supporting the change.
Specifically, that change would first come in the form of the state legislature passing HB 722 and SB 22. It remains an uphill battle for Fair Districts, however. Since the bills require a change to the state Constitution, they would have to pass both houses during two consecutive legislative sessions.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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