Governor Tom Wolf announced today that members of his Pennsylvania Redistricting Advisory Council will hold listening sessions across the state to gather public feedback on congressional redistricting.
“The opinions of Pennsylvanians must be heard as the legislature prepares to draw new congressional district boundary maps,” said Gov. Wolf. “The decisions made through the redistricting process will affect every person and community in Pennsylvania for the next decade. Reviewing the maps is one of my most important acts as governor and I take that responsibility extremely seriously.
I have long believed that gerrymandering is wrong, and politicians should not use the redistricting process to choose their own voters. That is why I have tasked the advisory council with listening to people and providing their expert advice to me so that I can better evaluate the maps in the best interest of all Pennsylvanians.”
The listening sessions are as follows:
| 5:30 p.m. | Monday, Oct. 18 | Rachel Carson State Office Building 400 Market St. Harrisburg, PA 17101 |
| 5:30 p.m. | Wednesday, Oct. 20 | University of Scranton Brennan Hall, The Rose Room 800 Linden St. Scranton, PA 18510 |
| 11:00 a.m. | Friday, Oct. 22 | Point Park University Center for Media Innovation 305 Wood St. Pittsburgh, PA 15222 |
| 5:00 p.m. | Monday, Oct. 25 | West Chester University Swope Music Building, Ware Recital Hall 817 S. High St. West Chester, PA 19382 |
| 11:00 a.m. | Wednesday, Oct. 27 | Penn State Behrend Pat Black III Conference Center, 180 Burke 5101 Jordan Rd. Erie, PA 16563 |
| 11:00 a.m. | Friday, Oct. 29 | Drexel University Creese Student Center 3210 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104 |
| 11:00 a.m. | Monday, Nov. 1 | Penn State Main Campus HUB-Robeson Center, 201 Old Main University Park, PA 16802 |
| 5:30 p.m. | Wednesday, Nov. 3 | Mansfield University Manser Hall 31 S. Academy St. Mansfield, PA 16933 |
Created by an executive order the governor signed on Sept. 13, the six-member council is comprised of redistricting experts who will provide guidance to the governor to assist his review of the congressional redistricting plan which will be passed by the General Assembly later this year.
The council will review redistricting processes in other states that reduce gerrymandering, develop factors to determine if a plan improves the integrity and fairness and prevents the dilution of a person’s vote and offer recommendations to ensure that districts are compact and contiguous to keep communities together and ensure people are proportionally represented.
In addition to the council and the listening sessions, the Wolf Administration created a redistricting website the public can use to submit proposed maps, outline communities of interest, and submit comments to help shape the outcome of this critical part of our democratic process.
Gov. Wolf has long fought to modernize our elections to remove barriers to voting and improve the process for citizens and election officials.
In 2019, the governor signed a landmark law with the most significant improvement to Pennsylvania’s elections in more than 80 years. The law, Act 77 of 2019, created the extremely popular option to cast a ballot by mail without an excuse and provided more time to register to vote, among other enhancements.
Since Act 77, more Pennsylvanians have registered to vote and participated in our democracy than ever before.
The governor also helped to secure $90 million to help counties with purchasing new voting systems with a paper trail and modern security. The Wolf Administration also created the option for people to register to vote or update their registration online for the first time, which more than 3 million people have used.
To attend a public listening session please RSVP with your name and event date to the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs at OIARSVP@pa.gov
