Redistricting Debate In Pennsylvania: Where It Stands

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania's congressional districts are set to be redrawn ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, a tenuous process that forces Republicans and Democrats to work together.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Census Bureau released its decennial congressional apportionment counts based on data from the 2020 census. Pennsylvania is one of seven states that will lose a seat due to a declining population.

States undergo the process of redistricting once a decade to determine the boundaries of state legislative and U.S. House of Representatives districts. In Pennsylvania, how those lines are redrawn is ultimately left to state lawmakers in Harrisburg.

Related: Redistricting Will Be The Definitive Political Fight Of 2021 In Pennsylvania. Here's How It'll Work

Democrats and Republicans are forced to work together to find common ground, which creates its own set of problems. While Republicans control the General Assembly, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has the power to veto any proposals he sees as partisan.

On Tuesday, the State Government Committee passed a bill that gets rid of proposed limits on how the state house districts are drawn, something that anti-gerrymandering advocates had hoped wouldn't happen.

Meanwhile, local elected officials are concerned that the process could disrupt their communities. In Bucks County, commissioners approved a resolution asking the state to keep the suburban Philadelphia county in one district.

"I don't think anybody in Bucks County wants to see (a split) happen - whether you're a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or whatever party you belong to," said Republican County Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo.

Pennsylvania's 18 congressional seats will soon be reduced to 17, but how those lines are redrawn remains to be seen.

Congressional lines were last redrawn by an outside expert in 2018, when the state Supreme Court ruled that the map violated a state constitution prohibition on partisan gerrymandering. The ruling addressed a 2011 map approved under former Republican Governor Tom Corbett.

Fair Districts PA, a nonprofit group advocating for redistricting, have pushed for state lawmakers to be more transparent in the process.

They've also called for an independent redistricting commission without lawmakers, though such a proposal never made it out of committee in the state legislature.

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