Redistricting reform may be an idea whose time has finally come, four advocates of reform told some 70 people at a forum Aug. 26 in Bethlehem.

The League of Women Voters of Lehigh County co-sponsored the event, held at the Unitarian-Universalist Church, with the church’s Social Action Committee.

Sharing their strongly held view that redistricting reform is badly needed in Pennsylvania were Barry Kauffman of Common Cause, Carol Kuniholm, election reform specialist for the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th, and State Rep. David Parker, R-115th.

Kauffman and Kuniholm are also co-chairs of Fair Districts PA, a group formed in January to address reforming the redistricting process.

They all urged the audience to get involved in the effort, saying the leaders of both parties have a vested interest in maintaining the current system, in which the state legislature draws the lines for Congressional and state legislative districts after every census.

“A grassroots outcry is the only way to change the system,” Kuniholm said.

The current state map is gerrymandered to strongly favor Republicans, because Republicans currently control the legislature, and even controlled the governor’s office when the map was drawn.

But panel members said Democrats could easily turn the tables if they were in power.

A short film shown to begin the discussion noted a majority of Pennsylvania voters voted for Democrats in the last election, but the state’s Congressional delegation is 72 percent Republican because of the way Congressional districts are drawn.

The film noted a similar result in favor of the Democrats in Maryland.

The process of redistricting has become much more sophisticated in recent years due to the advent of computer technology, the panelists said.

Mapping technology software can enable the parties controlling the process to draw district lines practically down to the individual household.

“We’re allowing lawmakers to pick their voters,” rather than voters picking their lawmakers, Kauffman said. “Elections are being determined before the votes are cast.”

Kuniholm focused on the example of Pennsylvania’s seventh Congressional district, which starts in suburban Philadelphia, but winds around to include portions of five counties.

This has been called one of the most gerrymandered districts in the country, she said.

She also gave the example of the city of Reading, which has been separated from most of Berks County and connected to nearly all of Lancaster County, diluting its urban concerns.

Boscola and Parker are both sponsoring bills which would place redistricting in the hands of a bipartisan citizens’ commission comprised of four Republicans, four Democrats and four unaffiliated voters (who could be either Independents or members of some third party).

There would be certain criteria candidates for the commission would have to meet, including some knowledge of math and computer technology.

They would also have to follow guidelines for drawing district maps that would include such items as not splitting up municipalities.

Their bills are modeled on redistricting procedures already in place in a few states, including California, which have created much fairer redistricting maps.

And both have bipartisan support, Boscola and Parker said, but are opposed by party leaders.

Boscola and Parker both shared examples of how their districts have been hurt by the current process.

Boscola said once while she was still a state representative, “I heard I was going to be gerrymandered out of my district” because she didn’t always vote with party leaders.

She avoided that fate by running for the state senate and winning, but in 2010, they took the city of Easton out of her district, not to punish her, but to put it in the district of a Bucks County senator whom they wanted to retire.

Parker said the map drawn back in 2002 divided Monroe County, which he serves, into six different senators’ districts, none of whom lived in Monroe County.

The panelists argued gerrymandering contributes to gridlock in the legislatures, because the creation of so many ‘safe’ districts for one party or the other leads to the election of more extremists, since the bigger challenge to re-election is more likely to be in the primary than the general election.

It also leads to increasing numbers of legislators being unopposed in both elections.

Over half the legislators in Pennsylvania are running unopposed this fall, Kauffman said.

These trends only increase cynicism among voters who don’t feel their voices are being heard.

“When you elect your representatives, you want them to work together,” Boscola said.

But there are some signs people are pushing back, the panelists said.

Kauffman praised Lehigh County Commissioner Amanda Holt, who was in the audience, as “one of the true heroes” of the reform movement.

Holt challenged the first redistricting map drawn after the 2010 census by arguing that it broke up too many municipalities.

She created a new map showing how many more municipal boundaries could be preserved, and the courts upheld her challenge.

“People are starting to demand reform,” Kauffman said.

He said many local officials are unhappy with the current system because of the way it breaks up municipalities.

People can get involved by contacting their state legislators and urging them to support SB 484 and HB 1835.

The panelists also distributed a sample resolution calling for redistricting reform which audience members could give to their local officials or community groups.

Kuniholm suggested people go to the League’s election information website, Vote411, to find out whether their legislators have responded to the League’s questions about reform.