UPDATED: Governor Wolf rejects GOP-submited redistricting map [View all]

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Fri Feb 16, 2018, 05:59 PM - Edit history (1)

Thread updated with additional info as of 2/16/18. See posts #5 & #6.

ALSO - found this site - https://www.brennancenter.org/legal-work/league-women-voters-v-pennslyvania

It has the entire court history and the public documents associated with the original case, with links to the files. It also includes the copies of the maps submitted to the court by various parties (scroll down to the section "Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (remedial plan process)". There were 7 maps submitted to the court yesterday (Feb. 15th, 2018).

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Gov. Wolf rejects Pennsylvania Republicans' map proposal, saying it remains a partisan gerrymander

Updated: February 13, 2018 — 1:08 PM EST
by Jonathan Lai & Liz Navratil, STAFF WRITERS

HARRISBURG — Gov. Wolf rejected Tuesday a congressional map that top Republican lawmakers had proposed, saying it remains a partisan gerrymander drawn to benefit Republicans and does not comply with an order from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The governor told Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) and House Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny), in a letter Tuesday, that he does not believe their proposed map “meets the demands of the people of Pennsylvania, the Court’s orders and majority opinion, or the Pennsylvania Constitution.”

Wolf left open the possibility that he would be willing to consider another map, if the General Assembly passed one for him to consider in time for the Thursday deadline imposed by the state Supreme Court when it struck down the current congressional districts on the ground that they had been unconstitutionally gerrymandered to favor Republicans.

But it would be difficult for the House and Senate to pass legislation by day’s end Thursday. An empty bill, into which a map could be inserted, remains before the House. Their members remain on “12-hour call,” meaning the earliest they could return is Wednesday. Pennsylvania is scheduled to hold its primary election on May 15.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/wolf-rejects-republican-proposed-congressional-map-gerrymandering-case-20180213.html

I am also posting below what I posted in the LBN thread - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10141986658

Link to tweet

TEXT
The Press Office
✔
@GovernorsOffice

Today, @GovernorTomWolf told @SupremeCtofPA that he will not accept the proposed map GOP @PaLegis leaders submitted because it, too, is a partisan gerrymander that does not comply with the court’s order or PA’s Constitution. http://on.pa.gov/2nZU1Oz
11:40 AM - Feb 13, 2018
Governor Tom Wolf Rejects Partisan Gerrymandered Map

Governor Wolf told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that he will not accept the proposed map Republican legislative leaders submitted because it, too, is a partisan gerrymander that does not comply...
governor.pa.gov

Here is the press release -

Governor Tom Wolf Rejects Partisan Gerrymandered Map
February 13, 2018

Analyses, Non-Partisan Experts Say GOP Submission is Partisan, Gerrymandered

Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf today told the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that he will not accept the proposed map Republican legislative leaders submitted because it, too, is a partisan gerrymander that does not comply with the court’s order or Pennsylvania’s Constitution.

“Partisan gerrymandering weakens citizen power, promotes gridlock and stifles meaningful reform,” Governor Wolf said. ” As non-partisan analysts have already said, their map maintains a similar partisan advantage by employing many of the same unconstitutional tactics present in their 2011 map.

“The analysis by my team shows that, like the 2011 map, the map submitted to my office by Republican leaders is still a gerrymander. Their map clearly seeks to benefit one political party, which is the essence of why the court found the current map to be unconstitutional.”

Read a statement from Professor Moon Duchin on her analysis here.

The analysis by Governor Wolf’s team confirms the universal analysis of various non-partisan experts that say the Republican leaders’ submission is another partisan gerrymander.

Princeton University professor Sam Wang said bluntly that “a prettier map can still conceal ill intent” and “it appears that Republicans are not dealing in good faith with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s order.”

A Washington Post data expert concluded, “Pennsylvania Republicans have drawn a new congressional map that is just as gerrymandered as the old one.”

The New York Times found the submitted map would extract the same partisan advantage for Republicans as the current one.

Brian Amos, a redistricting expert at the University of Florida, said, “…There was still a strong Republican bias, which is why the congressional and State Senate plans were struck down for being gerrymanders.”

https://www.governor.pa.gov/governor-tom-wolf-rejects-partisan-gerrymandered-map/

Here is the direct link to the document (PDF) that was included in the above press release as a link - https://www.governor.pa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/20180213-Summary-of-conclusions-of-joint-submission-plan-M.-Duchin-021318.pdf

The commentary in that document says in part -

We ran algorithms to generate many millions of alternative districting plans that scored better than the proposed Joint Submission Plan on the Supreme Court’s factors (respect for political boundaries, compactness, and population parity), but were substantially less weighted toward Republican candidates than the proposed Joint Submission Plan.

I concluded that the proposed Joint Submission Plan’s bias in favor of Republicans is extremely unlikely to have come about by chance.

There is no more than a 0.1% chance that a plan drafted to comply with the Court’s factors would have been as favorable to Republicans as is the proposed Joint Submission Plan.

When measured by tracking its partisan bias, the proposed Joint Submission Plan failed emphatically. Only the 2011 plan that is currently in effect started from a more severe partisan skew and stood out more in this test.

What is interesting is that now there is a new timeline in place since the Governor rejected before the February 15th deadline and the state legislature is not in session - which is fucking ridiculous that they are not called back (but then that is the GOP for you). The new deadline becomes February 19 (which I think is a holiday too) where the Governor could submit his own consensus map to the courts.