Redistricting may delay Pennsylvania primary
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HARRISBURG -- The April 24 primary date may be in jeopardy after the state Supreme Court on Friday explained its rejection of new legislative maps and Republicans filed suit to prevent voting under the old districts.
The state's top court issued an 87-page opinion declaring that the new maps adopted in December divided too many localities in an attempt to create districts with equal populations.
While maintaining a near-equal number of residents in state House and Senate districts is a priority, map-drafters also must pay greater attention to "contiguity, compactness and the integrity of political subdivisions" in setting boundaries, wrote Chief Justice Ronald Castille, who was joined by the three other justices.
The five-member Legislative Reapportionment Commission now must redraw House and Senate boundaries using those criteria. The majority opinion urged a public-comment period during that process, noting that any legal challenges also will need to be reviewed.
The court also ordered that the current districts remain in effect until the maps are redrawn.
However, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, and House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, on Friday asked a federal judge to bar the primary election from proceeding according to the 2001 districts lines. Republicans have filed several lawsuits arguing the 2001 districts are even more unbalanced in population than the rejected 2011 map.
A hearing on the request is scheduled for Monday morning in Philadelphia.
Also, without knowing how long it would take a new plan to become final, Mr. Pileggi said lawmakers will need to consider whether they should delay the primary contest.
"Without control over that length of time, it's hard to come to a final conclusion," Mr. Pileggi said in a teleconference with reporters. "But certainly the April 24th date is in jeopardy."
Democrats said that moving the primary is unnecessary because the Supreme Court has said the decade-old map remains in effect until a new one is approved.
First Published February 4, 2012 12:00 am
