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The Press Office
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@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.
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