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Dear Editor,
A critically important matter looms in Pennsylvania's near future: the State redistricting that occurs every ten years in the wake of the regular US Census. The redistricting process is fraught with possibilities for political manipulation, since under present rules the shapes of districts are determined by a commission consisting of two from each of the two major parties plus a fifth elected by the first four. The drawing of districts has a huge effect on electoral results, since changing the lines of a district will heavily influence ultimate vote counts.
Because the party in power is likely to have the larger effect, the process inevitably becomes politicized. Both major parties have in the past been guilty of working the system for their own benefit; the districting now in force does not do justice to the number of Democrats in the State, for example. The question is, can there be a better method that minimizes overt political influence and reflects voters' opinions more accurately? Next week the League of Women Voters is sponsoring a talk by Fair
Districting PA, a movement to improve districting procedures. Come to the Warren Public Library's Slater Room on Tuesday June 6 at 6:00 to hear Mamie Sullivan of Fair Districting PA address this question, which is so vital to making democracy more democratic. All political parties should be interested.
Dr. Karen L. Black
Indivisible Warren