2024 Mapping Contest Winners
Nine finalist mappers participated in the 2024 Mapping Contest vote session on September 25, voting for top maps among eligible maps in each category.
The contest was intended to test the mapping criteria and failsafe vote provisions in House Bill 1776 and Senate Bill 1076. All mappers submitting eligible maps were invited to the vote session, as well as to a follow-up conversation on October 2 to discuss trade-offs among proposed criteria.
The contest and voting session raised questions for further discussion. Among those:
Is the proposed failsafe effective in avoiding a possible tie? The current bill describes a form of elimination vote a commission would use if unable to come to consensus on a map in any category. The goal is a voting system guaranteed to yield a single final outcome that most closely reflects a consensus view. The vote session was a test of that process. With nine voting contestants, it yielded a two-way tie in one category and a three-way tie in another. Would the same happen with a commission of eleven? That provision deserves further study and possible modification.
Do numerical standards need adjustment? As expected, submitted maps showcased the challenge of prioritizing conflicting mapping criteria. Maps that excelled in one area often did less well in others. The wealth of eligible submissions showed that strong maps are possible without precinct splits, with much lower population deviations than in current PA House and Senate maps, and with fewer county divisions than in any current PA voting maps. But do specific numeric limits hinder or help achieve better representation? That question will be addressed in the October 2 mapping conversation but will also need input from redistricting law experts.
The contest announced a $500 prize for first place in each category, $300 for second place, and $100 for third place. In categories with ties, the overall amount for that category will be divided.
Congratulations to the winners, and a big thank you to all who took the time to create and submit map entries. Thank you as well to Dave’s Redistricting App, which provided the free mapping platform.
PA House:
Tie for 1st Place: House Maps 1, 2 and 3: Justin Marshall, Alec Overmann and Paul Nieves
PA Senate:
1st Place: Senate Map 1: Ruth Yeiser
2nd Place: Senate Map 8: Max Hodes
Tie for 3rd Place: Senate Maps 7 and 9: Frank S. Carcaterra and Alec Overmann
Congress:
Tie for 1st Place: Congressional Maps 1 and 7; Justin Marshall and Jackson Hamilton
2nd Place: Congressional Map 5; Ujjwal Nigam