Fair Districts PA proposes new Pennsylvania Districts Maps

[FakeNoose]

(link) https://fairdistrictspa.com/updates/the-peoples-maps-submitted-to-the-lrc

The People’s Maps Submitted to the LRC
November 10, 2021

Fair Districts PA supporters and allies believe that electoral districts belong to all of us, and that all of us should have a say in how districts are drawn.

On November 10, the final People’s Maps were shared with the Legislative Reapportionment Commission. These maps are the product of countless rounds of review and revision, incorporating public testimony, input from feedback forms, and dozens of large and small community mapping conversations. The goal is to demonstrate that regular people can balance priorities, gather input and create maps that make sense and provide fair outcomes for ALL the people of Pennsylvania.

Some highlights:

- Far fewer divided counties and municipalities.
- Far better metrics on compactness.
- Six more minority/majority districts than the existing PA House map had when it was drawn in 2012.
- Many minority opportunity and influence districts in parts of the commonwealth where Black and Brown populations don’t meet levels needed for majority/minority districts.
- Inclusion of 8 Unity districts, created by PA Voice partners working with community organizations in Pittsburgh, York, Reading, Lancaster and Philadelphia.
- Attention to PA geography, including rivers, roads and ridges.
- Significant effort to keep school districts as intact as possible and avoid dividing college campuses.
- Partisan bias scores that predict majoritarian outcomes, allowing voters’ voices to be heard locally, but also on a statewide level.

No map is perfect. Given Pennsylvania’s geography and strangely shaped cities and counties, many districts don’t have smooth edges or fall into neat rectangular shapes. Many school districts, even some municipalities, cross county lines. Districts in populous areas will be geographically small, while those in more rural areas may cover multiple counties.

Every line is a decision and every district involves tradeoffs. Our goal was to meet median metrics for essential legal requirements (compactness, contiguity, minimal splits, minority representation, and lack of partisan bias), while incorporating LACRA safeguards and community input.

- more at link -

2021 Proposed Maps:


Supported by LWV League of Women Voters (link) https://actionnetwork.org/letters/people-powered-fair-maps-the-peoples-maps-for-pa-house-and-senate

[modrepub]

1. Two Issues

PA has far too many legislators. Cut them in half and make sure their budget reflects a smaller group of representatives.

There should be some consideration of population changes when lines are redrawn. Most of the growth in population is occurring south of the area bordered by I-78 and I-81. The rest of the state, except maybe the State College area and Butler County are loosing folks every year. This slants the representation within a few years so that most of the rural areas have a greater representation than the more suburban and urban areas, especially in the SE part of the state.

BTW, this will never see the light of day. Republicans won't redrawn their way from power, and the rural areas will continue to dominate Harrisburg even when the bulk of tax revenue is coming from the suburban and urban areas of the state. With most elections getting less than 40% turnout, the legislature putting state amendments up only for primary votes when most independent voter (who represent about a third of the electorate) don't bother to show up, there's little incentive or reason for anything to change.