Montco Democrats Host Forum On Gerrymandering

UPPER MERION, PA — Local Democratic leaders and members of the public gathered at Upper Merion Area Middle School on Wednesday night for a town hall style meeting addressing gerrymandering.

The "End Gerrymandering: The Path to Fairer Elections and Better Governance in PA" described the problem and addressed possible solutions.

Calling it the "major fair-governance issue of our time," organizers gathered legislators, nonprofit leaders, and lawyers to discuss ways to address unfair drawing of Congressional maps for political purposes.

The following speakers presented on Wednesday, according to organizer Thomas Infeld:

• State Senator Daylin Leach, PA State Senator from the 17th District, outlined how, when, where, and by whom, Congressional and state district maps are drawn in Pennsylvania, the current situation and prospects for change in Harrisburg.
• Dr. Joan Duvall-Flynn, President of the NAACP PA State Conference, discussed the impact of partisan gerrymandering on the work of social service advocates in the Commonwealth.
• Val Arkoosh, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, examined the issue from the perspective of county governance, focusing on the difficulties created when gerrymandering needlessly carved up Montgomery County into multiple congressional and state legislative districts.
• Ben Geffen, attorney at the Public Interest Law Center, focused on current and possible future litigation in Pennsylvania and nationwide as the courts grapple with this problem.
• Carol Kuniholm, chair of Fair Districts PA, explained how Fair Districts has raised voter awareness of gerrymandering to unprecedented levels in its promotion of a bold legislative solution to the problem of partisan gerrymandering in Pennsylvania.
• Joseph Foster, chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Committee, moderated.

Image via Thomas Infeld