APPORTIONMENT AND REDISTRICTING

Position in brief
Support apportionment based substantially on the population in all voting districts, with additional consideration given to compact and contiguous territory and with respect given to municipal boundaries.

Background
Every 10 years, after the decennial census, states redraw the boundaries of congressional and legislative districts in order to meet the United States constitutional requirement of one person, one vote. In Pennsylvania, Congressional redistricting is done by statute passed by the General Assembly and approved by the Governor. On the other hand, the procedures for redrawing Pennsylvania’s State House and Senate districts are set forth in the Pennsylvania Constitution. Article II, Section 17 provides that PA House and Senate districts be drawn by a five-member redistricting commission. Four members are appointed by the majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate who then select a fifth member. The Commission has exclusive authority to draw the maps. Appeals go straight to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Article II, Section 16 of the PA Constitution says that State House and Senate districts “shall be composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable” and that “ unless absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a senatorial or representative district.”

Despite this Constitutional mandate many Pennsylvania House and Senate districts do not meet these standards. Instead, districts are drawn in such a way that incumbents and or candidates of a political party are protected from meaningful electoral competition. This type of redistricting is popularly known as gerrymandering. The term was coined in 1813 by combining the last name of the then governor of Massachusetts with the word salamander to describe the shape of an election district created by members of his party. Pennsylvania’s Legislative redistricting has been described as a “bipartisan incumbent protective gerrymander.” By one measurement Pennsylvania is the second most gerrymandered state in the country. Gerrymandering is one of the factors that reduce electoral competition. Until the 2006 primary election when a 2005 pay raise scandal resulted in many incumbent legislators losing their reelection bids, Pennsylvania had one of the highest rates of legislative incumbent reelection in the country. Uncompetitive elections and lack of meaningful choices results in unaccountable government, legislative gridlock and low voter turnout.

The 2001 Reapportionment plans for Pennsylvania Congressional and Legislative District can be found on the PA Department of State website at this link.

For some examples of how the shape of several state representative districts changed after the 2001 round of redistricting click here.

Pennsylvania’s 2001 Congressional redistricting map was appealed to the US Supreme Court (Veith v. Jubelirer) and was upheld on a 5-4 split. The appeal was made by a township which was divided into four Congressional districts. One county is now represented by five different members of the U.S. House of Representatives. In this case all nine justices agreed that excessive partisanship in redistricting is unconstitutional but could not define a standard for what is excessive.

The results of this case and others show that citizens cannot rely on the courts to strike down redistricting plans based on partisan gerrymandering. Instead, citizens must find a way to control the process.

Redistricting Principles
The League believes that redistricting should advance the fundamental purposes of representative democracy by giving the people a meaningful choice in electing their representatives and by holding government accountable to the people. District boundaries should meet the following standards (in order of importance):

• Protect the voting rights of minorities.
• Promote competitiveness and partisan fairness.
• Respect political subdivisions and communities of interest.
• Encourage geographical compactness and respect for natural geographic
features and barriers.

The League believes that the redistricting process should:

• Assign the redistricting power to an independent commission.
• Ensure transparency of the process and a meaningful opportunity for interested parties and for the public to participate effectively.
• Conduct redistricting once each decade, following the census, with a strict
timeline for completion.

Redistricting Reform in Pennsylvania
Changing the way redistricting is done in Pennsylvania means amending the state constitution. A proposed constitutional amendment must be passed in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly and then go to the voters for approval at the first primary or general election that occurs at least three months after the amendment is passed. This means that for reform to be in place for redistricting following the 2010 census, the legislature needed to adopt a proposed amendment in the 2007-8 legislative session.

Five Constitutional amendment proposals were introduced during the 2007-08 Legislative session. Three of these proposals would have placed the power to redraw both Congressional and Legislative districts in the hands of the same type of Reapportionment Commission which now has the exclusive power to redraw Legislative district boundaries. Removing Congressional redistricting from the direct control of the General Assembly is desirable. When both branches are controlled by the same party, the process will favor the party in power. In 2001, the Republican Party controlled both the PA House and Senate and the governorship. A bipartisan commission would ensure that both parties are equally represented in the process. The governor would have no role in approving any plan produced.

A fourth proposal, HB 84 sponsored by Rep. Thomas Tangretti (D-Westmoreland) and SB 346, sponsored by Senator Lisa M. Boscola (D-Lehigh), would have more radically changed the process

Two other proposals would more radically change the process. Under HB 84 sponsored by Rep. Thomas Tangretti (D-Westmoreland) and SB 346 sponsored by Senator Lisa M. Boscola (D-Lehigh) both Congressional and Legislative redistricting would be done by a Reapportionment Bureau. Its plans would be subject to approval by a majority of the House and Senate without amendment. In the event that a plan cannot get a majority of the House and Senate after being returned to the Bureau twice for revision, it can be amended. The bills would also create a five-member temporary redistricting advisory commission appointed by the legislative leadership who would then select a fifth member to serve as chair. Commission members and their relatives cannot hold public office. The advisory commission would be responsible for holding public hearings on any plan submitted to the General Assembly. The provisions of HB84 and SB346 failed the test of redistricting by independent commission. Final authority over approval of any plan rests with the General Assembly which could reject every plan submitted by the bureau and write its own plan.

The League backed a fifth proposal (HB2420) sponsored by Rep. Steve Samuelson (D-Lehigh, Northampton) and a similar proposal sponsored by Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola as an amendment to SB 346. Under these proposals, the legislature would still vote to approve legislative and congressional plans but could not amend any plan. HB2420 had 95 cosponsors.

The League supported bills defined parameters for compactness and for dividing political subdivisions and prohibit political considerations in drawing district lines, required that districts represent communities of interest and prohibit use of political affiliations of registered voters and addresses of incumbents in drawing districts.

Our proposal also provided for public input which would at the start of the process when stakeholders can alert the redistricting body to their various concerns including communities of interest that should be considered in preparing a plan. The public could also be invited to submit redistricting plans for consideration. In the public comment period following submission of a plan prepared by the bureau or commission, interested groups and individuals should also be able to submit alternate plans for consideration. Our proposed amendment would have also provided that additional provision for public input and other redistricting parameters could be accomplished through the regular legislative process.

Despite obvious broad based bipartisan support among rank and file legislators, both HB2420 and the amended version of SB 346 were stalled in the House and Senate State Government committees respectively.

Next Steps for Redistricting Reform
Reform of the redistricting process through constitutional amendment, to take effect in time for 2011, is no longer possible. The League will continue to work for reform through constitutional amendment to take effect in future decades. Meanwhile, the League is urging the legislature to adopt legislation that will reform the process within the current constitutional structure. Under our proposal, the legislature would delegate congressional redistricting to the leadership Commission that now does legislative redistricting. This would ensure that both congressional and legislative redistricting would be bipartisan.

Our proposed legislation would also further refine parameters for redistricting criteria already in the PA Constitution and add new criteria prohibiting the use of the following information in drawing district lines.

• Party affiliation data of any political subdivision;
• Voting histories of any political subdivision;
• The location of residences of any incumbent official, candidate, or other person;