Statement From LWVPA On Approved Legislative Maps

Contact: Susan Gobreski, Director of Government Policy: governmentpolicy@palwv.org 

After a months-long effort, the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission today approved legislative maps for the Commonwealth. 

The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania (LWVPA) is committed to empowering voters and defending democracy. Far too much of the redistricting process is focused on politicians and parties, often causing regular Pennsylvanians to become an afterthought.

The League has shown that we will champion fairness. We remain committed to ensuring that the voices of voters are heard. LWVPA went to court in 2018 to have Pennsylvania’s 2011 congressional map invalidated as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander under the state constitution. We are very glad to see that our action has had an impact on this cycle’s legislative mapping process.

The legislative redistricting process was much improved over past processes. Pennsylvanians witnessed different conduct from the commission, and benefited from the leadership of a Chair who was independent, prepared, sought information and input, and was willing to make changes.

We applaud the participation of women, including a Black woman, on the commission. While commission members did not always see eye to eye, it is not a coincidence that when women participated, the political process and the results were better.

The population of Pennsylvania has changed and moved and this map makes great strides in both undoing decades of gerrymandering, and in trying to keep up with population trends.  

LWVPA will review the map changes and remains committed to fighting for the best maps possible. The overall criteria for a fair map has not changed: the best map allows people to pick their politicians, and not the other way around.

These maps are a marked improvement over our existing maps, and we commend the progress that has been made.