Do not unfairly divide Lower Merion & Narberth
I grew up, and live in, Lower Merion Township. I am also the President of the League of Women Voters of Lower Merion and Narberth as well as a longtime advocate for redistricting reform. Please review and redraw the House map for our area. The proposed House map unnecessarily divides Lower Merion School District, the fastest-growing school district in PA, that will only continue to grow through the next decade. The proposed House map is not “compact” under PA law because it unevenly cracks Lower Merion and Narberth into two districts. The proposed House map unfairly divides our community again - we are currently divided into four districts from the last redistricting. Even with the best-intentioned and hard-working representatives, the proposed House map puts together different communities with different needs promoting the potential for divided loyalties by legislators. The proposed House map impedes our elected officials’ ability to advocate effectively and leaves the community confused as to their legislator with the unfair cracking of our community among legislative districts. The proposed House map does not consider the population growth over the last decade with HD148 and HD149 (in the top five largest population deviations in SEPA) in that it keeps essentially the same shape of the current districts. The proposed House map appears to favor incumbents with their existing constituency at the expense of truly fair representation for our community. The proposed House map ignores historical districts and communities for this region, like Villanova and Bryn Mawr, which are more likely to warrant a necessary split in municipalities due to population but would allow for most of Lower Merion and Narberth to be in one compact district. The proposed House map dilutes our voices and representational power in Harrisburg despite being the largest township in Montgomery County, and with Narberth Borough, larger than most PA cities at 68,142 people. Thank you for your time and consideration.