Kate Huangpu
Reporter
Kate is a government reporter for Spotlight PA. A graduate of the Columbia Journalism School’s data journalism program, Huangpu got her start reporting on police accountability and social services for survivors of domestic violence in New York City. She previously worked at ABC’s World News Tonight and MSNBC.
A panel of election experts held a discussion on unequal voting policies in the state and possible solutions.
The counties make their own policies on drop boxes, fixing mail ballots, and more. Our maps show the uneven landscape that gives Pennsylvanians additional voting options based on where they live.
Among the proposals is one that would give the legislature more control over the final products.
Lawmakers and courts differed on how — and whether — to define and uphold “partisan fairness” when reviewing electoral maps.
The order clears the way for the use of new state House and Senate maps in the May primary.
The majority highlighted traditional redistricting criteria and partisan fairness.
The map closely resembles the current one, with Democrats and Republicans each expected to win roughly half of the state’s 17 districts.
The state Supreme Court agreed to take over the process in early February following hearings held by a lower appellate judge.
The data on compactness, contiguity, minimal splits, and equal population.
The state Supreme Court will take up the recommendation but is not required to follow it. Oral arguments are scheduled for later this month.
Though Republicans retain an advantage, the maps could substantially alter the balance of power in Harrisburg and one will likely be challenged in court.
It’s now up to the state courts to determine the next district lines.
Officials in charge of drawing congressional and legislative maps have blown the Wolf administration’s Jan. 24 deadline for final versions.
The chair of the committee in charge of drawing the legislative maps said it will be “challenging” to finish them in under 30 days.
The governor and top lawmakers are facing a Jan. 30 deadline to complete the congressional map, or the state courts will take over.
If Gov. Wolf and the legislature do not agree on a plan by Jan. 30, Commonwealth Court says it will take over the process.
Pennsylvania state lawmakers would get final say over their own political districts under a new proposal moving through the legislature.
Anticipating that the Democratic governor and GOP lawmakers won’t be able to agree on a map, concerned citizens and redistricting advocates are lobbying the state Supreme Court to intervene.
The proposal — rejected by Republicans — improves on fairness metrics as mandated by the state constitution, while creating more districts that could be won by Democrats.
The proposals advanced Thursday would give Democrats a path to victory in the state House, while the Senate would be a toss-up, with a possible edge to the GOP.
Lack of compact districts and clear advantage for Republicans will likely be key sticking points.
The task of reshaping Pennsylvania’s political maps falls to a small group of legislative insiders, a system that critics worry facilitates backroom deals.
An additional 3,000 people will be excluded from a rule that ends “prison gerrymandering” in Pennsylvania’s state House and Senate maps.