Redistricting Pennsylvania
We are deeply concerned about the proposed redistricting plan for Delaware County. The current proposals for the 4 districts (161st, 165th, 166th, and 168th) are supposed to create greater "equity" for all resident voters. These are the problems that are apparent by the proposal: The various townships will be chopped up into many districts with increased confusion for voting and lack of integrity in each township. The plan to create equity does just the opposite sacrificing the balance between Democrat and Republican votes. Further, the correlated socioeconomics of each party could impact the true equity the changes were designed to achieve. The plan has broader implications in affecting school districts, state funding, divided between multiple districts and grants to fire companies and individual townships. It forces a partisan voter imbalance, favoring one party and diminishes the voting power of each township. The rating of 'F' by the independent Princeton Gerrymandering Project speaks volumes of the current new proposal. Bottom line - the proposed plan will only serve party politics at the expense of the common people. Our suggestion is to go back to the drawing board, keep partisan politics out of the planning and keep township voting boundaries intact.