When political districts look more like ink spills than common groupings of people and communities, their politicians have a greater chance of acting less like the people they represent.

That’s the problem with gerrymandering, and that’s bad for business, according to a Philadelphia Business Journal opinion by Editor-in-Chief Craig Ey.

“Imagine if the Philadelphia City Council’s over-regulation of business became possible statewide because of gerrymandering. We would be in serious trouble as a state,” he wrote. “As businesspeople, we should open our ears and eyes to this issue and demand reform. It is likely one of the most important we face.”

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Ey pointed to the 7th Congressional District as a prime example.

“It’s a bizarro U-shape. One commentator said it looks like Bullwinkle shaking hands with Donald Duck. Wherever your imagination takes you, you probably agree that our political maps shouldn’t look like a Rorschach inkblot test,” he wrote. “The gerrymandering games across the country have opened the door for extremism and political intractability — on the right and the left.”

Read more of Ey’s thoughts on why gerrymandering is bad for business in the Philadelphia Business Journal here.

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