By Caroline Johnston, Contributing Writer

The competition is brewing.

Several organizations with their home base in Philadelphia have joined together and invite the public to take part in a contest to “Fix Philly Districts.”  The challenge comes as part of an initiative to increase citizens knowledge of redistricting and to increase civic involvement.  The creator of the best design will be rewarded a $500 cash prize; four runner-ups will be rewarded with an Amazon Kindle.

Azavea launched a redistricting design website that allows any public citizen to use the most recent U.S. Census data to design and draw the 10 districts of Philadelphia. Azavea, along with the other partners sponsoring Fix Philly Districts including NewsWorks, Philadelphia Daily News, Philly.com and Penn Project for Civic Engagement hope the process will produce fair and non-partisan districts based on the decennial census.

The contest, is the first of it’s kind to take place in the City of Brotherly Love.  It is a drastic change from the 2001 redistricting approach, left the city heavily favoring incumbent politicians.  The past process left city districts amongst the most poorly designed districts in the country, according to contest organizers.

Robert Cheetham, the CEO of Azavea encouraged the public to take part, saying, “we believe that the public can make a positive contribution toward better districts, better representation, and better democracy for Philadelphia.”

Azavea will hold information and training sessions along with workshops to help the public understand the process of formatting fair districts. The website is designed to provide the public and civic groups a place to create, save and return to their designs. The website also compares a participants design to the current Philadelphia City Charter district design regulations, helping the competitor to submit the most complete design.

Philadelphia City Council announced that the final district design must be submitted by September 9th; that deadline leaves the contest to stay open until August 28th.

So, what are you waiting for? All you have to do is sign up, click and create!

Calendar of Events:
August 11, 2011 – Azavea Training Webinar, 6:30 PM (Click Here To Register For Webinar)
August 15, 2011 – Azavea Training Webinar, 6:30 PM (Click Here To Register For Webinar)
August 28, 2011 – Competition ends, 11:59 PM
Early September (TBD) – Winners announced