comments on redistricting proposa

First, the difference in population between the largest and smallest district in the HB 2146 map is nearly 9,000 people. While I believe that perfect population equality should be balanced with other goals such as maintaining communities of interest, the deviation in the HB 2146 map may be successfully challenged as unconstitutional. This significant population deviation is the result of last-minute changes made to the map submitted to the House State Government Committee by Lehigh County resident Amanda Holt and selected by Chairman Grove. The deviation among districts in Holt’s submitted map was 1 person. When Republican members of the House State Government Committee objected to aspects of the Holt map, Chairman Grove quickly abandoned the pretext of a citizen-selected map and redrew lines in ways that completely undermine the principles that motivated Holt’s map in the first place. The result is a highly skewed map. Second, the revised map splits multiple communities of interest, including splits in Luzerne, Dauphin, Philadelphia and Chester counties that do not appear to be motivated by compelling legal principles, but rather by a desire to make districts more favorable to Republican candidates. Third, the Council also recommended that Governor Wolf review proposed maps to determine whether their expected performance is proportional to statewide voter preference. The HB 2146 map falls short on this basic measure of partisan fairness, giving a structural advantage to Republican candidates that far exceeds the party’s voter support. A comparison of the HB 2146 map to prior election results and to neutrally drawn maps, using rigorous mathematical methodology, has demonstrated that the HB 2146 map would consistently deliver a disproportionate number of seats to Republican candidates when compared with Pennsylvania voters’ preferences. This appears to be the result of intentional line-drawing choices that favor Republican candidates. Fourth, the manner in which Chairman Grove has conducted the recent steps of this crucial process has been disgraceful. Despite his promise to conduct the “most open and transparent congressional redistricting process in PA history,” it is not clear that he consulted with even the Republican members of his own Committee prior to selecting the Holt map — much less the Democratic members, who have been completely cut out of the process. And despite Chairman Grove’s attempt to make up a narrative as he goes, there is no explanation for the changes that were made, beyond the fact that some of them seem to correlate with complaints aired by members of his Committee when the original map was released. Finally, I have significant concern about the timeline for the final passage of this map. As Acting Secretary Degraffenreid noted in a June 28, 2021 letter to the leaders of the four legislative caucuses as well as the Chair of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission, the Department of State and county boards of elections have historically needed at least three weeks to prepare the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (“SURE”) to facilitate the nomination petition process, which is statutorily mandated to begin on February 15, 2022. The purpose of redistricting is to see that all of us are fairly represented. When officeholders decide that they have the power to chose their voters, fairness is impossible. This map fails to represent our communities.