Kate Huangpu of Spotlight PA
This article is part of a yearlong reporting project focused on redistricting and gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. It is made possible by the support of Spotlight PA members and Votebeat, a project focused on election integrity and voting access.
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has selected a new congressional map that closely resembles the current one, with Democrats and Republicans each expected to win roughly half of the state’s 17 districts.
In an order released Wednesday, the Democrat-controlled high court picked a proposal submitted by the Carter petitioners, a group of Pennsylvania voters who brought a lawsuit asking the state courts to take over the congressional redistricting process.
The state Supreme Court agreed to take over the highly consequential process in early February, just weeks after Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed a map sent to him by Republicans.
The five-page order does not explain the court’s reasoning. It notes that Justice Debra Todd, a Democrat, and the court’s two Republicans — Justices Sallie Updyke Mundy and Kevin Brobson — dissented to the selection of the Carter plan.
The state Supreme Court also announced Wednesday it will not move the date of the May 17 primary, opting instead to adjust some of the deadlines for candidates.
The Carter map is as similar as possible to the current congressional map, with nearly 90% of residents staying in the same district. Attorney Matthew Gorden told the court last Friday that this approach of “least change” should be valued over other considerations.
Gorden said the map was guided by that principle and not motivated by partisan intentions.
“We don’t have visibility into why most of the other maps ended up where they did,” he said. “We do for the Carter map.”
This story will be updated.
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