2024 Mapping Contest Next Steps
The 2024 Mapping Contest deadline was August 31. Thirty-three mappers from two countries and 18 different states submitted 76 district maps: 21 for PA House maps, 24 for PA Senate maps, and 31 for PA Congressional districts.
The goal of the contest: to test the criteria proposed in House Bill 1776 and Senate Bill 1076, and to answer the following questions:
- Are the mapping standards clear and workable?
- How well will prioritization work in preventing gerrymandering?
- Will the resulting maps improve representation?
Since the contest deadline, a small team of FDPA mappers involved in helping to draft bill criteria has examined submissions to determine compliance with contest rules and mapping criteria.
Many maps were disqualified. In some cases mappers deliberately disqualified themselves by creating maps to make their own points about elections and voting districts, choosing to draw maps with fewer districts than PA law allows for, or creating their own prioritized criteria while ignoring proposed bill criteria. A larger number of maps were disqualified for failure to meet specific prohibitions or requirements as described in the bills and contest rules. Among objective reasons for disqualification:
- Split precincts
- Counties split into too many districts
- Population deviations above the proposed limits
- Failure to describe steps to include communities of interest or address physical geography
Maps were also evaluated according to accepted measures for compliance with two top priorities: representation of racial minorities and not unduly favoring one party or another. Maps that fell below current maps for minority representation were considered ineligible, as were those that would yield significant anti-majoritarian outcomes.
Comments offered by mappers highlighted the many challenges in meeting strict prioritized criteria, in some cases making the case for relaxing those criteria to make the mapping process easier. Yet the outcomes suggest that the criteria do work in constraining districts that splinter counties and communities, and it appears that the proposed balance between competing criteria could prevent the extreme gerrymandering of the past.
Mappers who submitted eligible maps are invited to a 2024 Mapping Contest Vote on September 25, where they will vote by ranked choice vote / instant run-off for winners in each category.
That Vote event will be recorded and shared afterward.
Map finalists will also be invited to a conversation the following week to discuss the criteria, proposed legislation and any needed adjustments.
Public comment is invited on the maps found eligible as finalists.
Comments will be reviewed and considered as part of both the Vote event and the criteria discussion to follow.