Revise to distribute population more equitably
I live in the current and LRC proposed Senate District 26. This map falls short of the goal of equitably distributing population, respecting municipality boundaries, and keeping communities of interest together. In my area, the proposed map continues to combine Delaware County communities with Philadelphia county communities in District 8. This does not make sense to me. These are separate communities and should be in separate Senate districts that respect county boundaries. The boundaries of District 9 are strangely sprawling, extending in the east all the way from Delaware County’s Edgmont/Rose Valley/Chester to Chester County’s West Grove in the west. The proposed district 9 extends far further west than the current district 9. These districts can and should be more compact and more cognizant of municipal boundaries. I am also troubled by the variation in populations of districts from a low of 249K (e.g. Districts 21, 27, 30, 46, 32) all the way up to 270K (e.g. Districts 22, 40, 19, 17, 4. The votes of citizens in these higher populated districts are being diluted and do not count as much as the votes in under-populated districts, including mine (District 26, population 248K). This map can and should do a better job at minimizing the population variation between Senate districts.