Deadline: Midnight, August 31, 2024
Prizes:
- 1st place $500
- 2nd place $300
- 3rd place $100
Platform, DRA 2020:
DRA 2020, also known as Dave’s Redistricting App, a project of the Social Good Fund, is an online web app that provides tools for anyone to create, analyze, and share district maps.
Learn more and sign up for a free account here.
Competition rules and timeline:
- Maps may be the work of an individual or team. Each person who works on a map must be identified.
- Only maps of the entire state will be accepted. Mappers are welcome to submit multiple entries (more than one map) in each category: PA House, PA Senate, Congress.
- Maps must comply as closely as possible with proposed prioritized criteria.
- Mappers are required to submit a narrative that explains decisions made in creating the submitted map. If specific communities of interest were taken into consideration, be sure to include that information.
- All contestants whose maps meet eligibility requirements will be considered finalists AND judges, and will be invited to participate in a ranked-choice-vote selection process to determine winning maps.
- Finalists will be announced within one week of the competition deadline (August 31), followed by a two-week public comment period. The ranked-choice-vote process will be completed by October 1, 2024.
Eligibility:
Anyone 13 or older and interested in Pennsylvania redistricting, mapping and representation is eligible. Fair Districts PA volunteers, legislators, former contest winners, out-of-state mappers: all are welcome to submit maps. Contestants under the age of 18 will need documented parental permission to participate.
Criteria:
The criteria below reflect the exact language in Section 19 of HB 1776 and SB 1076. Note the order given and stipulations (shall, shall not, to the extent possible). Judging will reflect how well-submitted maps comply with the criteria in order of prioritization. If there are places where compliance seems impossible, please explain that as part of your submission.
- Districts shall comply with the United States Constitution and comply with the federal Voting Rights Act and other federal laws.
- A redistricting plan shall not:
- (i) purposefully or unduly favor or disfavor any incumbent elected official, candidate or prospective candidate for elective office.
- (ii) provide a disproportionate advantage to any political party. A disproportionate advantage to a political party shall be determined by using accepted measures of partisan fairness.
- Districts shall provide racial minorities an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and may not dilute or diminish their ability to elect candidates of choice whether alone or in coalition with others.
- Districts shall respect communities of interest to the extent practicable and after compliance with the requirements of paragraphs 1 and 2. (“Community of interest.” an area with recognized similarities of interests, including but not limited to ethnic, racial, economic, tribal, social, cultural, geographic or historic identities. The term may include political subdivisions such as counties, municipalities, tribal lands and reservations, or school districts, but shall not include common relationships with political parties or political candidates.)
- Senatorial and representative districts shall be drawn with the fewest number of divisions to counties, municipalities and wards within a population deviation of 2.5% above or below the ideal population. A county may not contain more senatorial districts than the number required by the population plus one. A county may not contain more representative districts than the number required by the population plus two. No precincts shall be split in the drawing of district lines.
- Congressional districts shall be drawn with the fewest number of divisions to counties, municipalities and wards within a population deviation of .25% above or below the ideal population. A county may not contain more congressional districts than the number required by the population plus one. No precincts shall be split in the drawing of district lines.
- The boundaries of each district shall be contiguous. Boundaries shall be drawn using a single non-intersecting continuous line. A county or municipal fragment or enclave containing less than fifty persons shall be considered contiguous to the district if the remainder of the county or municipality is wholly within the same district.
- To the extent possible without violating the preceding criteria, districts shall be compact in form as determined through standard compactness measures, and district boundaries shall conform to natural boundaries existing in the physical geography of an area.
Data:
Maps will be drawn with current census data and current Congressional apportionment.
- 17 Congressional districts
- 50 PA Senate districts
- 203 House districts
While the proposed bills require reapportionment of prison data to incarcerated persons’ home communities, that data is at present only partially available.
When creating a map on DRA 2020 (Dave’s Redistricting App) choose Census: Total Pop. (Adj). 2020 and Voting Age: Voting Age Pop: 2020.
Communities of Interest:
For input on communities of interest, consider those mentioned in section 4 above. Other options:
Release and indemnification:
All eligible maps will be shared through online web pages as well as through social media. Entering the contest constitutes consent to participate in media coverage. If entrants are between the ages of 13 and 18, parental consent must be provided. A consent form will be emailed to the parent or guardian email address requested in the application form.
All entrants agree that Fair Districts PA and authorized representatives may use entrants’ names, likenesses, entries and comments without compensation, for the purposes of announcing the winners, promoting the competition and promoting the goal of redistricting reform in Pennsylvania. Entrants further agree that Fair Districts PA shall have all rights to use entries and comments, with or without attribution, to further the goal of fair district maps and redistricting reform.
SUBMIT HERE