Population Deviation Over Time
We aspire to live in a world of 1 person 1 vote, giving all individuals equal political power, but individuals living in districts with less population have greater political power than those in districts with greater population. Redistricting is an opportunity to rectify the population shifts of the past 10 years but this can also be done proactively. While it is acceptable to have minimal population deviation at the start of the 10 year cycle, it seems that the Preliminary Apportionment Plan is setting up some individuals to be far more politically powerful than others ten years from now. This map has districts 30 and 32 around Altoona, and 27 around Northumberland, starting the cycle already thousands of people below average despite being the fastest shrinking parts of the state. It then chooses to have some of the fastest growing districts start the cycle already tens of thousands above average such as district 34 in Cumberland County, District 48 in Lebanon County, and districts 1, 2, 4, 12, 17, 19, 24, and 44 in and around Philadelphia. If the population shift of the last 10 years continues, by 2030 a resident of District 32 (2030 pop 217,940) will have 26% more political power than a resident of District 34 (2030 pop 293150), up from the current 7%.