PA Orgs Ask LRC To End Prison Gerrymandering
Dear Members of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission: We the undersigned organizations are writing to you because we are concerned about the ramifications of continuing this commission’s practice of distorting the redistricting process by choosing not to use available data to identify true home districts for temporarily incarcerated Pennsylvanians. This practice, commonly known as prison gerrymandering, gives extra political influence to a small number of residents who live near prisons while diluting the votes of residents in every other legislative district. It skews democracy on both the state and local levels and is harming every county and city governments in the Commonwealth where there is not a prison. We strongly urge you to use your power to count temporarily incarcerated residents in their home districts when drawing legislative maps. Failing to count incarcerated Pennsylvanians at home for redistricting purposes undermines the constitutional guarantee of “one person, one vote,” with clear ramifications for our democracy. In essence, by counting the temporarily incarcerated in their prison district, this commission will be diluting the votes of residents who do not live near prisons. Incarcerated people who are allowed to vote, those incarcerated for misdemeanor offenses or currently being held pending trial, are not legally allowed to vote in the district where they are imprisoned. They must vote in their home district. There are people in state prison on misdemeanor offenses. While the elected officials in the communities housing their prison are technically supposed to represent them, these temporarily incarcerated Pennsylvanians will most often have to call on the elected officials from their home communities for constituent services. This creates a dynamic that is unfair for both residents and elected officials, and it creates a situation where there is little to no incentive for the elected official representing the community housing the prison to service those temporary constituents. But the most compelling reason to count temporarily incarcerated Pennsylvanians in their home districts is simple: these are their home districts. The average offender in Pennsylvania prisons serves only around four years. That means the typical Pennsylvanian who is temporarily incarcerated in one of our prisons will go home during the 10-year period of time when legislative maps remain set, and they will return to a home district where they have not been counted as a constituent. You and your fellow commissioners have the ability to right this wrong, and, compared to the many complicated variables you will need to weigh as you draw legislative maps, rectifying this problem is not particularly difficult. As organizations we will continue to push hard to fix this flaw. Time is of the essence, and we are confident that you, too, understand the urgency of the moment when it comes to prison gerrymandering in Pennsylvania. Sincerely, Free The Ballot Abolitionist Law Center Amistad Law Project BetterPA ACLU of Pennsylvania Fair Districts PA League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund New Pennsylvania Project Common Cause Conservation Voters of PA POWER Interfaith Keystone Progress Education Fund The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center We the People – Pennsylvania The Keystone Research Center 1VOTE COUNTS Inc The Hub for Progress Our Revolution Pennsylvania Straight Ahead Reclaim Philadelphia PA Stands Up 215 People's Alliance Action Together NEPA Pennsylvania Voice 1Hood Media 1Hood Power Americans for Democratic Action, Southeastern Pennsylvania Alliance for Police Accountability (APA) PA Working Families Party VietLead One Pennsylvania Make the Road Pennsylvania LIVE FREE Capitol Region Stands Up