Every 10 years, the nationwide census produces new changes, such as allocating greater or fewer representatives in Congress depending on population shifts within the states. The redrawing of legislative districts takes place as well.

In a perfect world, the new boundaries would represent the changes in population, and provide everyone with fair representation.

But this world is far from perfect.

In Pennsylvania, the Republicans control the legislature and the governorship, which basically means that they can dictate how they want to redraw the borders. Last week, their proposal passed.

These new districts will solidify their hold on seats in the legislature and also improve their chances to gain more seats in the 2002 elections.

One senator was quoted as saying that this was the main goal of the redistricting effort.

This is a tried and true practice of both parties for generations. The majority party works to reshape the boundaries just about any way they choose because they have the necessary votes to pass their plan.

The main regulations given from the Supreme Court are that districts must be equal size or as close as possible and must be contiguous.

But there is not much protection for the residents of the old districts.

Democrats are planning to file a lawsuit stating that the redistricting plan will deny voters fair representation.

Is the Republican plan 100 percent fair? Probably not, but would a Democratic one ensure complete fairness?

One state representative compared this whole process to the spoils system. In that system, the winner gets everything at the expense of somebody else.

Who is the true loser: the minority party or the average citizen?

The repercussions of this year's redistricting are not merely going to affect politicians. Some districts that voted Democratic will be broken up in a way that will divide their numbers making sure that their candidate's chances for winning are diminished.

Republicans in states controlled by Democrats, such as California, will face the same dilemma.

Voting gives citizens a voice in government, but redistricting plans, which are drawn on political lines, serve more to mute the voices instead of amplifying them.

Larger issues are waiting for attention. The skyrocketing unemployment hitting the nation is a prime example. The representatives can spend more time addressing that and other issues, instead of trying to increase the power of their own party.

Rather than working to make sure that new boundaries accurately reflect the changes of the past 10 years, our representatives in Harrisburg, and also in the other state capitals are working to ensure that the majority party remains dominant. This is being done at the expense of the hard-working taxpayers of this country.

As with many of the political battles, the main casualties are the citizens.