League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Congressional Redistricting Act of 2011 (the 2011 plan) reconstituted and adjusted the borders of Pennsylvania’s congressional districts, resulting in 18 districts. The 2011 plan divided 28 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties between at least two districts and divided 68 Pennsylvania municipalities between at least two districts. In elections following the enactment of the 2011 plan, Republican candidates repeatedly won the same 13 congressional districts, while Democratic candidates repeatedly won the same 5 districts. Several Pennsylvania voters and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania (collectively, the voters) (plaintiffs) brought an action against various Pennsylvania executive and legislative branch officials (defendants), asserting that the 2011 plan was a partisan gerrymander that violated the Pennsylvania Constitution’s free and equal elections clause. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court exercised jurisdiction over the matter but asked the Commonwealth Court to create an evidentiary record and prepare findings of fact and conclusions of law. Evidence before the Commonwealth Court included expert testimony from a political-science professor, Dr. Jowei Chen, who created computer-simulated Pennsylvania redistricting plans based on traditionally neutral districting criteria including population equality, compactness, contiguousness, and political-subdivision integrity. Chen’s plans split only 12 to 14 of Pennsylvania’s counties between districts and split only 40 to 58 municipalities between districts. Nevertheless, the Commonwealth Court concluded that the voters had not established an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reviewed the matter.