A fair voting district is one that is drawn by a process that doesn’t promote the interests of one political party over another.
The boundaries of voting districts are redrawn every 10 years – after each U.S. Census – to reflect any shifts that have taken place in the state’s population.
Currently, PA state senate and house districts are drawn by a five-member commission: four majority and minority party leaders (from both house and senate) and a fifth commissioner (chosen by those four or by the PA Supreme Court). Congressional maps are drawn by majority party leaders and passed as a bill in both houses, then signed into law by the governor.
These party leaders are in charge of drawing all the lines for all legislative voter districts in the state.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t. Party leaders use big data and sophisticated mapping technology to cherry-pick exactly who they want in or out of each voting district in order to advance their partisan interests, not the citizens. This manipulation is often referred to as “gerrymandering.”
According to the Pennsylvania constitution, when voter districts are redrawn, they should respect existing municipal and other established boundaries. But in order to serve political self-interests, party leaders have created districts that carve up communities, cross natural boundaries and unnecessarily dividing counties and municipalities.
Fair Districts PA wants to change how redistricting is done in our state, so our elections and your vote don’t get compromised. At its core is putting the power of democracy back into the people’s hands and eliminate partisan politics.
Fair Districts PA (FDPA) is a nonpartisan, statewide coalition. We are volunteers from all walks of life and political stripes. We’re working to reform the way our state’s voting districts are redrawn. Our goal is a redistricting process for PA that is transparent, impartial and fair – one that benefits all.
The first step is to sign our petition and send a clear signal to legislators that PA voters like you want fair districts. Then check out other ways you can take action in support of FDPA’s efforts to make fair districts a reality in Pennsylvania.