Pennsylvania’s redistricting abuses have been some of the most extreme in the nation and opposition is building. Ballot Access News by Richard Winger had the following post with the latest:

On June 15, some Democratic voters in Pennsylvania, plus the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit in state court, alleging that the U.S. House districts in Pennsylvania since 2011 constitute an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The case is based on both the U.S. constitution and the Pennsylvania constitution. League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Court. Here is the Complaint. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

Gerrymandered districts in Pennsylvania are among the most skewed in the nation to this day. The following is an excerpt from a recent article on LancasterOnline that is based on Ballot Access News research:

A new report makes the case that Pennsylvania is one of the three most blatantly gerrymandered states in the country. Outcomes in Pennsylvania, Michigan and North Carolina “consistently have the most extreme levels of partisan bias,” according to an analysis of the last three Congressional elections released this month by the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan think tank at the New York University School of Law.

Over the years, both Republicans and Democrats have used gerrymandering to tilt elections in their favor. Gerrymandering currently gives Republicans an advantage of 16 to 17 U.S. House seats, the report said. The Brennan Center used three tests to measure gerrymandering. Pennsylvania ranked as the most skewed state on two of them, and No. 4 on the third.

Some more info from Fair Districts PA, a “nonpartisan, citizen-led, statewide coalition working to create a process for redistricting that is transparent, impartial, and fair elections”:

The current process is redistricting gone wrong—a process driven by partisan politics, mapping technology, big data, and outside money. The result is gerrymandering: the practice of manipulating voting districts to benefit parties, not people. Gerrymandered districts give voters less voice and less choice, and we get polarization instead of problem-solving in Harrisburg and Washington.