Comments on State House redistricting
Congratulations on producing a fair division of State House Districts which reflects the population shift which has taken place in the Commonwealth. I have two further comments, one specific and one more general. First, I believe a state house district in the Harrisburg area which crosses the Susquehanna River and is made up of communities in both Dauphin and Cumberland Counties should be avoided if at all possible. I recognize that in order to maintain relatively equal populations county boundaries cannot always be followed. I would argue, however, that in this case further efforts should be made to adjust surrounding districts to maintain the county line (and the River) as a district boundary. Area residents regard the Susquehanna as a dividing line between communities of interest and whoever would be elected to represent a district encompassing communities on both sides of the river would have a difficult role. My general comment is this would be an opportune time to renumber the districts. The general public is confused when district 26 borders district 140, for example. The PA Supreme Court took this step with Pennsylvania’s Congressional Districts a few years ago - State House and State Senate districts should undergo a similar revision