The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Published Tuesday, April 9, 2002

HARRISBURG

Options include redrawing map, delaying primary

By Robert B. Swift
Ottaway News Service

HARRISBURG -- State lawmakers are considering everything from going back to the drawing boards to delaying the primary until September in the wake of a surprise federal court ruling rejecting the new congressional redistricting law as unconstitutional.

The unprecedented ruling by a three-judge panel in the U.S. Middle District Court in Harrrisburg throws the political world into potential chaos just six weeks before the May 21 primary. Lawmakers said the ruling could impact candidates already certified by the state Election Bureau to run for party nominations in the 19 congressional districts created in Pennsylvania by the law.

The panel ruled that the law enacted on Jan. 7 violates the principle of "one person, one vote" because it allowed variances in the population between the most populated and least populated congressional districts that were avoidable. This ruling came on the last of a number of legal challenges to the law. The panel ordered the General Assembly to enact a "constitutionally sound" plan within three weeks.

Senate Majority Leader David Brightbill, R-Lebanon, said legislative leaders are considering a number of options in response, including filing an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Whatever we have to do to get it right, we have to do," he added.

The rejected redistricting map splits Mercer County between two congressional districts. The 3rd District represented by U.S. Rep. Phil English, R-Erie, covers the bulk of Mercer County.

The 4th District represented by U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Allegheny, includes a handful of Mercer County communities -- Farrell, Wheatland, West Middlesex, Shenango Township and part of Hermitage, south of Mercer Avenue and west of South Hermitage Road.

The state’s options include:

Appeal for a stay on the order from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Continue with the new plan as the one valid for the 2002 election. Candidates elected in November would serve two-year terms and lawmakers would pass a new redistricting law effective for 2004. This is a route other states have taken when their redistricting plans have been struck down in the middle of an election process, said Senate GOP Counsel Stephen MacNett.

Delay the primary until September either for congressional candidates only or for candidates for all offices on the ballot. A delay would provide lawmakers more time to work on a new plan.

Quickly pass a new redistricting bill to tighten the population variance as the court directed before the primary. That could involve minor changes to the boundaries of the districts, or as Brightbill noted, could lead to political pressures to make greater changes. Brightbill also warned candidates and voters could file lawsuits if they felt the rewrite was unfair to them.

Lawmakers can’t go back to the plan in place from 1992-2002 because the state no longer has 21 congressional districts. The state lost two seats due to population gains in other states.

Have the court draw a map as plaintiffs challenging the plan initially asked.

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