Lehigh Carbon Community College will serve as a viewing location for Pennsylvania’s first-ever redistricting town hall on Thursday in room 201 of the Community Services Center on the Schnecksville campus.

The town hall will originate from Muhlenberg College beginning at 6 p.m. and will initiate a community conversation about the effects of redistricting at the local and state level. The event is free and open to the public. Expert panelists will discuss Pennsylvania’s recent redistricting and the actions that preceded the most recent legal battles.

The broadcast at LCCC is being coordinated by the political science department.

More than a dozen Pennsylvania colleges and universities will host events to tune in to the conversation via Muhlenberg’s video portal and discuss the impact in their home districts. The live broadcast will be available through the video portal to the public as well.

Decades of partisan efforts led to Pennsylvania’s ill-gained reputation as one of the nation’s leading offenders of biased districting practices, or gerrymandering. The state’s legislative districts have been in the national spotlight regarding this issue for the past several years.

Recently, Republican-drawn districts were the basis for a lawsuit that eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The results of that case included a federal mandate for new district maps. An impasse between Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-led Legislature led to newly drawn districts by the state supreme court in early 2018. The shake-up resulted in a confusing election cycle and new seats in the House of Representatives.

Agenda:

• 6-7 p.m. What is Redistricting and Why and How Does it Matter?

Panelists are Carol Kuniholm, Fair Districts PA Chair; Amanda Holt, Lehigh County Commissioner; Jill Greene, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters; Pennsylvania Sen. Mike Folmer (R); Chris Borick, Muhlenberg College professor of political science and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute for Public Opinion.

• 7-7:45 p.m. What Difference Has Redistricting Made in Your District? At Muhlenberg, Congresswoman Susan Wild of Pennsylvania’s 7th District will be joined by Benjamin Lieberman, a Muhlenberg student who has undertaken significant research on redistricting; and a faculty representative from Cedar Crest College.

Host sites will discuss issues pertaining to their districts. Mary Erdman, member of the Lehigh Valley League for Women Voters, will speak to the LCCC audience.

• 7:45-8:15 p.m. Lessons Learned and a Call to Action

Panelists from the first session will offer reflections and parting thoughts. Audience may participate in a question/answer session by submitting questions via Twitter by tagging @TownhallPA.

For additional information about the panelists and event participants, go to https://www.muhlenberg.edu/news/2019/muhlenbergtohostredistrictingtownhall.html.

To watch the event live, go to https://portal.stretchinternet.com/muhlenberg.

This event is sponsored or made possible by the Department of Political Science at Muhlenberg College, Todd Zimmerman and the Department of Political Science at Lehigh Carbon Community College and the Pennsylvania Political Science Association.