Welcome to Pennsylvania Redistricting

This website provides information about the redistricting process in Pennsylvania, including information about the Legislative Reapportionment Commission created by the state Constitution, access to the geography and population data used for redistricting, interactive maps, and more.

February 4th Meeting

View the Chairman's Opening Statement.

LRC Adopts 2021 Final Plans

The 2021 Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission, on Friday, February 4, 2022, approved the Final Reapportionment Plan for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania Senate, in accordance with Pennsylvania Constitution, Article II, Section 17(c). The Commission has filed the Final Plan with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, and the Final Plan is available on the Commission's website.

About Redistricting

This website provides information about the redistricting process in Pennsylvania, including information about the Legislative Reapportionment Commission created by the state Constitution, access to the geography and population data used for redistricting, interactive maps, and more.

Redistricting is the process by which the boundaries of elective districts are periodically redrawn to maintain equal representation on the basis of population.

Article 1, Section 2, of the United States Constitution requires that a Census be taken every 10 years for the purpose of apportioning the United States House of Representatives. Census results are used to determine the number of congressional seats apportioned to each state. After the 2000 federal Census, Pennsylvania had 19 members in the U.S. House of Representatives. Following the 2010 federal Census, Pennsylvania had 18 members of the U.S. House. Following the 2020 Census, Pennsylvania's population, while growing by 2.1%, grew more slowly than the country, and subsequently resulted in a reduction to 17 seats. More information on the Census is available at census.gov

In addition to being used as a basis for apportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, Census data is also used in Congressional and Legislative redistricting.

Public Law 94-171, enacted by Congress in December 1975, requires the Census Bureau to deliver redistricting data to state officials responsible for legislative redistricting no later than April 1, 2021. Delays caused primarily by COVID-19 necessitated a delay in the delivery of redistricting data. More information on the redistricting data program is available on the U.S. Census Bureau website.

WHAT'S NEW

October 31, 2022 - US Supreme Court denies petition for review of Commission plan

On October 31, 2022, the United States Supreme Court denied the petition for a writ of certiorari that had been filed in the case of Benninghoff v. 2021 Legislative Reapportionment Commission. Mark A. Nordenberg, the Chair of the Commission, responded to that action by the Court by issuing a statement.

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Legislative Reapportionment Commission

Article 2, Section 17 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides for a Legislative Reapportionment Commission to redistrict both chambers (the state Senate and the state House) in the year following the Federal decennial census.

The Commission consists of five members: the four caucus floor leaders, or deputies appointed by each of them, and a chairman to be selected by those members or, if they cannot reach agreement, by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

MEET THE COMMISSION+

Legislative

The Constitution of Pennsylvania requires that the legislative districts for the House of Representatives and the State Senate be redrawn each decade following the federal census.

This process is mandated by the Pennsylvania Constitution so that each citizen's vote ultimately carries the same weight in the ballot box.

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Congressional

Congressional redistricting is not handled by the Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

Rather, the boundaries of Congressional seats in Pennsylvania are redrawn after every Federal decennial census by legislative action - in other words, a bill which proceeds through both chambers of the General Assembly and is signed into law by the Governor.

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