Part 2 CCFD Testimony
CCFD testimony Part 2 III. The Law of Redistricting after League of Women Voters of Pa. v. Commonwealth of Pa., 175 A. 3d 282 (Pa. 2018) The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in LWV stated that in the context of redistricting, the two relevant provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution are Article II, Section 16 and Article I, Section 5. Article II, Section 16 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides as follows: § 16. Legislative districts. The Commonwealth shall be divided into 50 senatorial and 203 representative districts, which shall be composed of compact and contiguous territory as nearly equal in population as practicable. Each senatorial district shall elect one Senator, and each representative district one Representative. Unless absolutely necessary no county, city, incorporated town, borough, township or ward shall be divided in forming either a senatorial or representative district. (Apr. 23, 1968, P.L. App. 3, Prop. No. 1) The second provision, Article I, Section 5, the Free and Equal Elections Clause (“FEEC”), is more general. It provides as follows: “Election shall be free and equal; And no power, civil or military, shall, at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage.” Although LWV dealt with Congressional districts, the bases for the ruling should apply equally to the state legislative district maps that the LRC has produced. The LWV ruling is based on the Pennsylvania Constitution, specifically, the two aforementioned provisions. By its wording, the FEEC applies to all elections. Therefore, the rationale and holdings of LWV apply to all district maps, that is, for both state and federal legislators. And LWV therefore applies to, and should guide, the LRC. As a result, all three things--the aforementioned two Constitutional provisions and LWV-- should be applied together when considering the LRC proposed maps. The Court held in LWV that the Pennsylvania Constitution, specifically, the FEEC, provides a remedy for partisan gerrymandering. See 645 Pa. 1, 178 A.3d 737, 741 (2018). It noted, however, after quoting from Article II, Section 16, that other factors have played a role in drawing of districts besides the four drafting criteria in Section 16, such as incumbent protection. However, it held that such other factors are “wholly subordinate” to the four neutral criteria of compactness, contiguity, minimization of division of political subdivisions, and equality of population. These neutral criteria provide a floor of protection for an individual—and the Aggrieved Persons--against the dilution of his or her vote in the creation of such districts. LWV, 645 Pa. 1, 178 A.2d at 816-817. Subordination of the neutral criteria even in part, such as for partisan gerrymandering, creates a constitutional violation. Id. If these primary neutral criteria are utilized, the drafter is restrained from drawing partisan maps. And the map that results likely will not produce a partisan effect.