For almost a decade, over 6,000 Pennsylvania volunteers, led by Fair Districts PA and their allies, have been doing the hard, unglamorous work democracy demands. Collectively, they have sustained a statewide, citizen-led effort to reform the redistricting process and end the gerrymandering, legislative hyper-partisanship and dysfunction that has increasingly failed to meet the mounting challenges facing our state.
They’ve delivered talks to over 53,000 Pennsylvanians, written, called, and emailed every legislator and met personally with over 200 of them. Nearly 390 municipal governing bodies and county commissions, representing 70% of our state population and with majorities on both sides of the aisle, have sent petitions supporting reform. Citizen efforts have generated over 3,600 news articles, letters to the editor, editorials and Op-Eds. Over 130,000 Pennsylvanians have signed petitions supporting an independent redistricting commission. Nearly 20,000 have signed petitions for rule reform.
In November and again at the start of February, FDPA volunteers again went to Harrisburg to demand legislative action. In a letter to the leaders of the legislature, also hand-delivered to rank-and-file members they said:
After a decade of labor, we’ve made the case. Two-thirds of Pennsylvanians in three different polls support redistricting reform. A recent NY Times nationwide poll puts support at over 80%. THAT is bipartisan. It is time for you to represent US!
Redistricting — the decennial process of redrawing electoral districts based on the latest U.S. census — should ensure equal representation. Instead, in Pennsylvania and across the country, it has too often been a mechanism for politicians to protect themselves and pre-determine outcomes. Our 2011 congressional maps were so skewed the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck them down in 2018 as “a partisan gerrymander of extraordinary scope.” The alternative map the Court ordered restored fairness — but only because the justices intervened when politics failed.
In the 2021 cycle, despite improved transparency and public participation, the fundamental flaws remain. The Legislative Reapportionment Commission — composed of the four top partisan leaders in Harrisburg and a court-appointed chair — ensures political interests continue to shape the process. While the results were less extreme than in earlier cycles, fairness in Pennsylvania still depends on who holds power and what they do with it.
The members of the LRC are the same powerful legislative leaders who control the legislative agenda. Fourteen different redistricting reform bills have been filed over the past decade. NONE have ever gotten a floor vote in either chamber.
When any party is allowed to entrench itself through gerrymandering, public trust erodes and voters drop out. That is dangerous to our democracy. The Campaign Legal Center’s “Lessons Learned from the 2021 Redistricting Cycle” found that states with genuinely independent citizen commissions — such as California and Michigan — produced the fairest maps with the least litigation. Where politicians kept control, even partially, maps skewed toward incumbents and partisan advantage.
The Brennan Center for Justice found that states with independent commissions saw higher voter engagement, while those that used redistricting to eliminate competition saw lower turnout, especially among younger voters and communities of color. In an era of widening racial turnout gaps and eroding trust in institutions, these findings are warnings Pennsylvania cannot ignore.
Fortunately, there is a path forward. House Bill 31 and Senate Bill 131 would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to create an 11-member independent redistricting commission composed of qualified citizens — Republicans, Democrats, and independents — screened for conflicts of interest and bound by clear, enforceable rules. The commission would prohibit partisan favoritism, protect communities of interest, require public hearings, and guarantee transparency in every step of the process. These bills do not favor one party or the other. They favor the voters.
If Pennsylvania wants a fair process in 2031, reform must be enacted well before the 2030 Census. Constitutional amendments require approval in two consecutive legislative sessions. That means action must be completed with initial passage in 2026 and second passage early in 2027. Doing so would then send the proposed change to a statewide referendum that lets the people decide, not self-interested politicians.
Pennsylvania’s founders declared that the people possess “an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform or abolish their government.” Today, Pennsylvanians are asking not to abolish anything — only to repair a system that has been distorted by decades of self-interest.
Pennsylvanians have done the work. They’ve built the movement. They’ve shown the demand. The case is closed.
On the eve of our nation’s 250th anniversary, leaders and rank-and-file legislators must answer one simple question:
Will you listen to your citizens and allow redistricting reform bills to get hearings and votes and a statewide referendum? Or will you once again refuse?
And if you refuse, you need to tell us why!
Doug Webster is a retired marketing communications consultant, a volunteer with Fair Districts PA and author of the Substack blog I Beg to Differ. Ibegtodiffer.substgack.com He lives in Monroeville.