Sign the Petition

The above map shows southeast gerrymandered Pennsylvania.

SB361 has been reintroduced in the Pennsylvania Senate.  This is an amendment to the state Constitution and it changes the rules for redistricting.  It takes politics out of the process and defines the shape of districts.  You can read the amendment here.

(b) (1) The bureau shall acquire appropriate information,
review and evaluate available facilities and develop programs and procedures, which may include the use of mapping software, in preparation for drawing congressional and legislative redistricting plans on the basis of each Federal census.

And then there is this which clearly defines how a district is to drawn and what tool is to be used for redistricting.  It also indicates which tools cannot be used for redistricting.

(2)To the extent consistent with paragraph (1), district boundaries shall coincide with the boundaries of political subdivisions of this Commonwealth. The number of counties and cities divided among more than one district shall be as small as possible. When there is a choice between dividing local political subdivisions, the more populous subdivisions shall be divided before the less populous, but this statement does not apply to a legislative district boundary drawn along a county line which passes through a city that lies in more than one county.

(3) Districts shall be composed of convenient contiguous territory. Areas which meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous.

(4) It is preferable that districts be compact in form, but the standards established by paragraphs (1), (2) and (3) take precedence over compactness where a conflict arises between compactness and these standards. In general, compact districts are those which are square, rectangular or hexagonal in shape to the extent permitted by natural or political boundaries.

(5) Districts should represent communities of interest as reflected by common economic patterns of production and

consumption, school district boundaries, cultural activities, self-identification, media coverage and other relevant demographic information.

(6) However, no district shall be drawn for the purpose of favoring a political party, incumbent legislator or member of Congress or other person or group. In establishing districts, no use shall be made of any of the following data:

(i) Addresses of incumbent legislators or members of Congress.

(ii) Political affiliations of registered voters.

(iii) Previous election results.

You can sign the petition here.

May the citizens of Pennsylvania be heard!  Speak Up!  Contact your state Senator and let them know that you support this amendment.

Go Joe

From an email:

It’s time … “to bring this race on home”!!

Today … with less than 30 days remaining till Election Day … we are re-launching Go.JoeSestak.com or “GoJoe” for short – our campaign’s interactive social network site that was instrumental in our primary victory and that empowers YOU to connect, coordinate and win!

An innovative organizing campaign website, GoJoe enables you, our enthusiastic supporters – both in Pennsylvania and across the nation – to take ownership and become involved in our historic campaign.

We are the first Democratic U.S. Senate campaign in our nation’s history to have launched such a site. Our supporters are bright, passionate, and get things done:

• For those in Pennsylvania, GoJoe allows you to organize yourselves into neighborhood groups to reach voters in your area. You can host house parties, help register people to vote, get Letters to the Editor in your local papers, write a blog, or even open your own grassroots field office.

• For supporters outside Pennsylvania, GoJoe allows you to also host house-parties and phone banks where you can call voters in Pennsylvania, as well join groups and blog.

• No matter where you live, you can do remote phone banking from the comfort of your home.

Best of all, the GoJoe site is very easy to use.

• Once you go to the site, take a few minutes to sign up and set up your own personalized GoJoe profile.  After that, click on the “Groups” tab to find and connect with other supporters and activists in your area and even create your own group.

• Click on “Events” to find out ways to get involved near you.  If there aren’t any events planned yet near your hometown, consider hosting one yourself.  You can use GoJoe to invite people to your house or a local business, to get the ball rolling.  Once you call a meeting, we’ll contact you to give you the tools you need to make your event a success.

This campaign belongs to you – it reflects your core beliefs and the kind of leadership you want in Washington, D.C.

Together we are mobilizing … WE ARE ASKING EVERYONE TO PLEASE JOIN Go.JoeSestak.com

It’s time to get involved … it’s time to bring this race on home!.

Best regards,

Rich Sestak
Campaign Director

P.S. Today is the LAST DAY to register to vote. Please remind your family and friends to make sure that they are registered to vote in this critical election.  You can get more details on how to register, absentee ballots, and where your polling place is on our home page .

A Real Democrat for Senator

Let me introduce you to a real Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, a Democrat that didn’t switch parties just so he could get elected… Bill Kortz.

Learn more about Bill Kortz at http://www.kortzforsenate.com/

Be sure to view the video at Bill Kortz’s website.

Legislator Bill Kortz will be at the “Rally for Single Payer Health Care” in Harrisburg on Thursday.

RALLY ON THE CAPITOL STEPS
for
SINGLE-PAYER
June 11th
Get the latest info here!

Meet Bill Kortz, Democratic State Representative from the 38^th Legislative District in Allegheny County, a candidate for the United States Senate in 2010.

Bill Kortz, life long democrat entered this race “For All the Right Reasons”, just as he entered the race for State Representative in 2006 when it became abundantly clear that’s some of our State Representatives were out of touch with the citizens of Pennsylvania. As a member of the Appropriations Committee for the State House of Representatives Bill Kortz the working class candidate is in the unique position to see first hand the economic devastation tax breaks for the wealthy and the unjustified Iraq War Policy by the Bush administration and his republican allies, including now long time republican, conveniently turned democrat, Arlen Specter, have reeked on Pennsylvania and our nation.

As one of the political enablers, Specter helped devastate our economy by way of a wink and nod attitude to the corporate greedy on Wall Street, wealthy bankers, and predator lenders. With the end result being a cost in dollars and broken lives that is immeasurable.

It will take hard work and dedication by elected U.S. Representatives that truly aspire to public service, “For All the Right Reasons”, to reverse this problem. Bill Kortz has proven to his colleagues in the State House with untiring commitment to his duties and dedication to constituents in his district, that he is that person.

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