HARRISBURG, June 8, 2012 — Democratic Leader Jay Costa offered the following statement on the Legislative Reapportionment Commission’s adoption of a final legislative reapportionment plan:
“The reapportionment process has been long and taken many twists and turns. Unfortunately, we are right back to where we started when the Supreme Court rejected the previous gerrymandered map. Incredibly, in the face of clear guidance from the court and provisions of the state constitution, the commission adopted another gerrymandered map.
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“The map contains way too many inexplicable and unnecessary partisan county splits that run afoul of the court and the constitution. Plus, Republicans applied different data when they drew eastern and western Pennsylvania districts. Their arbitrary and inconsistent use of performance data in the east and registration numbers in the west conveniently benefits their party.
“The final map is the product of a broken and bewildering process in which the public was ignored and negotiation was illusory. The map is a total disappointment.”
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