Editorial: Redistricting process needs to be fixed sooner rather than later

With the newly drawn redistricting maps finally setting the lines that will define legislative districts, it is time for people to analyze what the definitions will mean.

In Westmoreland County, for example, the people will go from having eight seats in the state House of Representatives to six. While all are now in Republican hands, registration in some of the districts makes it possible that some of those could change.

State Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward is still the main legislator from the county, but two other districts — the 32nd and 42nd — will nibble at the edges. None of the county will be in the 45th District anymore.

The changes have ended up in court as Republicans have tried to prevent the congressional map — Pennsylvania lost a seat in the 2020 census — from being used for this year’s election, but the state Supreme Court rejected that.

It is unsurprising that the analysis of the situation is split along party lines.

“I don’t think they were done fairly,” said 58th District Rep. Eric Davanzo.

“The state House districts are definitely cleaner,” said Tara Yokopenic, chairwoman of the Westmoreland County Democratic Committee.

But the reshaping that occurs every 10 years is never perfect and usually contentious — this year made worse by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the census.

Instead of focusing on the perimeters on the maps, it may be better to look forward to the parameters of how we get to the finished product in a timely fashion.

Last week, state Rep. Bob Brooks, R-Murrysville, announced he would not be running again. His 54th District was moved from Westmoreland to Montgomery County.

People interested in representing the community were left with just a 10-day period ending Monday to complete nominating petitions for seats that might not have been in play for them before the maps were finalized. That’s not just difficult for would-be candidates but arguably unfair for the people who would be represented.

This has to stop. Redistricting is a process that has been part of the country since the U.S. Constitution was adopted. Allowing it to be slowed down as it gets stuck in political glue does everyone a disservice. A less-contentious solution should be solidified before it happens again.

Start now, Pennsylvania. The next census is in eight years.