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Pennsylvania News Today | Jameskusatsu
(Center Square) – The Pennsylvania Legislative Redistribution Commission has certified the US Census Bureau’s population data this week in anticipation of the January 12 draft map deadline.
“I feel like we’re under a lot of time pressure because of the delayed delivery of census data and the impending deadline associated with the 2022 primary,” said Mark Nordenberg. “So we’ll move as fast as we can to make a preliminary plan.”
The five-member committee includes leaders of Nordenberg and four legislative caucuses. Congressman Kelly Beninghof, R Belfonte, Joanna McLington, D Philadelphia, Senator Kim Ward, R Greensburg, Jay Costa, D Pittsburgh. Together, the panel defines the boundaries between 203 State Capitol districts and 50 Senate districts.
However, for the first time in state history, these districts include: Prisoner A person who may have been imprisoned in a county different from the last known address. The controversial provisions adopted by the Commission in August affect approximately 37,000 prisoners in 23 counties.
McClinton proposed this policy as an answer to the “prison gerrymandering”, which often affects people of color disproportionately. And prisoners make more sense because they don’t participate in or contribute to the communities in which they are imprisoned.
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