Op-Ed: Redistricting is the ultimate political football
It's crunch time in the NFL and Philadelphians mourn the Eagles and Pittsburgh mourns the Steelers. In Harrisburg, our politicians play for broke as they scramble to protect their home turf while districts are redrawn.
Did I say “our” politicians? Yes, “our” politicians: we elected them and unless we pay attention, they are prone to run away with the ball and tackle the referees. Both parties. So, look up from your football statistics to the high stakes redistricting game: our own political Super Bowl.
We live in a democracy and expect that our government will respond to “we the people”. Not so in Harrisburg. The House, under committee Chair Seth Grove, R-York, held 11 hearings to collect written and oral testimony on congressional maps. Citizens submitted 19 maps. Sounds good. Too bad he ignored them.
Grove picked one of the 19 maps for a discussion and a vote. Why pick this map over the other 18? It’s a secret. Who chose it and how? Another secret. Did they ever discuss the testimony or any other map? No. They totally ignored the Draw the Lines map, and the over 7,000 citizens who participated.
Committee chairs in the legislature, elected by 0.05% of PA citizens, do whatever they want. They can ignore 18 maps and that is their “prerogative”. They can and did ignore calls for an independent commission. They can and did block from discussion an independent commission bill with 110 cosponsors (enough to pass). The independent commission never even received committee debate. So, Seth Grove, Chair of the House State Government Committee did nothing unusual for Harrisburg when he alone selected a map that just happened to be the most partisan in favor of his party.
There are rules that govern House committee work. These rules allow the chair to totally control the agenda. The rules stack every committee 15 to 10 in favor of the majority party. The minority chair cannot call witnesses, set hearings, add a bill to the agenda or in any way contribute to the legislative process. Welcome to Harrisburg.
We have some checks and balances: our governor can sign or veto the congressional map. Our court system requires the map to meet our state constitutional requirements. Our state Supreme Court threw out the outrageously gerrymandered 2011 map drawn by our general assembly. That map failed the free and fair election clause in our state constitution based on “one person, one vote.”
But our legislature doesn’t like being checked by the judiciary. So, the majority party proposed a constitutional amendment which gerrymanders the judiciary. House Bill 38 would require statewide judges to be elected in districts drawn by legislators, handing control of judicial elections to the legislature. An independent judiciary is the bedrock of a free society, but party leaders want control, so HB 38 is on the agenda.
Who are the referees for this political Super Bowl? We are. Call your House and Senate representatives. Tell them to oppose HB 38 and to draw fair, not partisan, maps. Referees watch the game and make the calls. It’s our state, our game and our call.
Rachel Sorokin Goff, MD volunteers with Fair Districts PA (FDPA) and is Chair of the FDPA Rules Reform Committee. She lives in Elkins Park.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Op-Ed: Redistricting is the ultimate political football
