Partisan gerrymandering is the process by which those in control of drawing legislative district maps rig them to favor a political party. In many places, gerrymandering has ramped up to serious levels. It is undemocratic, and a September 2025 poll revealed that 82% of Americans prefer districts drawn by nonpartisan commissions rather than the political party in power.
In the Pennsylvania House and Senate, there are companion bills that would amend the state constitution by establishing an 11-member Independent Redistricting Commission to provide a nonpartisan process for drawing state legislative and congressional maps. Three House members and one senator from Berks County have co-sponsored those bills.
Those bills must get out of committee and onto the floor for a vote in two consecutive legislative sessions before a referendum could come before the voters to amend the constitution.
It is imperative that voters who oppose political gerrymandering contact their legislators and ask for support for HB31 or SB 131. No one knows who will control the state Legislature or governorship in 2031 when it’s time to redraw the maps. Yet, we do know that, by 2030 it will be too late to put a nonpartisan process in place. The independent commission would favor neither red nor blue, but democracy.
Terry Guers
Muhlenberg Township