State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Pennsylvania court orders new congressional map due to gerrymandering

Reuters: Pennsylvania’s top court on Monday threw out the state’s congressional map, ruling that Republican legislators unlawfully sought partisan advantage, and gave them three weeks to rework it in a decision that could boost Democratic chances of retaking the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a 5-2 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the electoral map violated the state Constitution by manipulating the district boundaries to minimize the voting power of Democratic voters, a practice called partisan gerrymandering.

Democrats, who hold only five of the state’s 18 congressional districts despite Pennsylvania being a closely divided electoral swing state, are hoping to regain control of the House in the November mid-term elections.

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