Apr 26, 2018 2 min read

Last week a struggle played out in the state Capitol between the people of Pennsylvania who are fighting for the right to have their vote counted and those in office who wish to skew voting districts to their favor to remain in power.

Gerrymandering of voting districts in Pennsylvania has been the favored tactic of the party in power to ensure their candidates are elected and stay in office. This distortion of our democracy has led to polarized and all familiar, gridlocked representatives. There is little incentive for them to reach out and form compromised solutions for the common good when the majority of a voting district is made up of single-minded constituents and those of other party affiliations are marginalized. Consequently, citizens not aligned with the representative lose their right for equal representation and have their vote counted in a fair election.

If there is any doubt that money and power corrupt elections, you need to look no further than gerrymandering for the root of the problems we see today among our state and federal representatives.

The recent order by the state Supreme Court is only a temporary remedy to our gerrymandered districts. Come the next census in 2020, districts will need to be redrawn, and we will be back where we were with the skewed process. That is why people from across the state rallied in Harrisburg last week to ask their representatives to support Senate Bill 22 and House Bill 563, formerly House Bill 722. These two bills would establish a permanent remedy by amending the state Constitution and put in place a nonpolitical independent citizens commission that would ensure a fair and equitable democratic process for redistricting now and in the future.

Safeguarding our democracy takes diligence. Let your representative know you want your vote to be counted and expect fair and equal representation.

R.F. Brecht

Pittsburgh