Let the chaos begin.

Now that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has struck down the configurations of the state’s 18 congressional districts, it has told the state General Assembly to fix the problem, and it has all of 10 days to do it. 

We find this ridiculous. To put such a near-term deadline on such an important matter is begging for problems and missteps. Don’t get us wrong: We agree with the high court that the current map ``clearly, plainly and palpably” violates the state constitution.

The Pennsylvania League of Women Voters and other plaintiffs brought suit, alleging that the districts were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in 2011 to help Republican candidates win office.

Don’t think the Republicans are the only ones who have done this over the years. When the Democrats controlled the state legislature, they also tried to help their party control the state’s congressional delegation, but the Republican effort was part of a nationwide strategy to use computer-assisted technology to position the GOP to take control of a number of state legislatures. Pennsylvania just happened to be one of the most extreme examples of gerrymandering gone wild.

One of the most egregious and best known examples of gerrymandering abuses is in Pennsylvania’s 7th District in southeastern Pennsylvania – the notorious "Goofy kicking Donald Duck” configuration.

  If the legislature fails to meet the Feb. 9 deadline, and if Gov. Tom Wolf does not sign off on the new plan by Feb. 15, the seven-member state Supreme Court, including Democratic Lansford native Christine Donohue, will take over and strive to adopt a redistricting scheme based on testimony from lower-court proceedings. The high court is made up of five Democrats and two Republicans.

  As you might expect, the Republican-controlled legislature is none too happy with the ruling and its leadership has filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to put the brakes on any further action. The court is already dealing with redistricting and gerrymandering cases in Wisconsin and North Carolina.

  If a delay occurs for this election cycle, it could mean waiting until 2020, which is when the federal government will conduct its decennial census. With the likelihood that Pennsylvania will lose one House seat after the 2020 census, new maps will need to be redrawn, probably in 2021.

  We have a better suggestion: Postpone this year’s congressional House primaries only until September. The U.S. Senate primaries, along with local primaries for the state House and state Senate, would be held as scheduled in May. The general election would go on as scheduled for all contests in November. This would cost money, but it would be money well spent to ensure a smoother transition.

  All 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including the 18 in Pennsylvania, are up for election this year. Incumbents and candidates may not even know in which districts they will be running, because it will depend on how the lines on the new maps are redrawn.

  The first day to circulate nominating petitions is Feb. 13, two days before the deadline for the governor to sign the new plan; the deadline to file nominating petitions is March 6. The primaries are scheduled for Tuesday, May 15.

    Although there are more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state, the GOP holds a lopsided 13-5 edge in the congressional delegation.

  In making its historic ruling, the state Supreme Court said the new districts must be compact, exhibit contiguous territory and be as close to the same population to meet the ``one person, one vote” principle. The court also said the new map must not divide cities, boroughs or townships, except when necessary to achieve population equality.

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  In the Times News area, there are four congressional districts – the 17th,  represented by Democrat Matt Cartwright that includes all of Schuylkill and parts of Carbon, Monroe and Northampton counties; the 11th,  represented by Republican Lou Barletta (a candidate for U.S. Senate this year), which includes the other part of Carbon not in the 17th; the 15th, represented by Republican Charlie Dent (who is retiring at the end of the year), which includes all of Lehigh and the part of Northampton not in the 17th, and the 10th, represented by Republican Tom Marino, which includes the part of Monroe not in the 17th.

By BRUCE FRASSINELLI| tneditor@tnonline,com