The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said on Monday that they may get involved in the process to redraw the Pennsylvania congressional district map.
Reports say that the state Supreme Court voted 5-2 to put on hold a lower court’s consideration for proposals for a new map, and said it would hear arguments on whether or not to exercise its authority over the process. Three days of hearings have been held at the Commonwealth Court level where representatives laid out their proposals for the maps they represented. The commonwealth court got involved after Governor Tom Wolf vetoed a map that was approved by the state legislature along party lines. Democrats, including the Governor, felt that the map unfairly favored the Republican Party by drawing the districts to give them more representation, but Republicans said that the map was fair to all sides and was as fair as they could be for population distribution.
The maps need to be redrawn to reflect a drop in population in Pennsylvania that resulted in the loss of a seat in the U.S. Congress. If the maps are not approved soon, deadlines for the upcoming primary election, including the election date itself, could be pushed back.
