The Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional map on Monday, ruling it violated the state’s Constitution.
In its order, the state Supreme Court ruled the Congressional Redistricting Act of 2011, which divided the state into 18 congressional districts, is unconstitutional. Under the order, the Republican-controlled General Assembly has until Feb. 9 to submit a new congressional districting plan to the governor. Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, has until Feb. 15 to submit the plan to the court if he accepts it.
However, should the state legislature fail to submit its plan by Feb. 9, or should Wolf reject the replacement, the court will “adopt a plan based on the evidentiary record developed in the Commonwealth Court.”
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the order will not affect the March 13 special election to fill the seat held by Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., who resigned in October.
The League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania challenged the state’s congressional voting map, which was drawn by the GOP-led General Assembly in 2011. The organization argued the congressional map constituted a partisan gerrymander because the legislature “drew a map designed to maximize the political advance of Republicans and diminish the representational rights of Democratic voters.”
The League of Women Voters argued the 2011 voting map “packed” Democratic voters into five Democratic districts. The rest of the Democratic voters were spread across 13 other districts, which still maintained a majority of Republican voters.
