A group of Democratic Party voters who argue their voices are muted in Pennsylvania’s congressional elections by “rigged” district lines have asked the state Supreme Court to immediately take up the case. The application for extraordinary relief was filed Wednesday night after Commonwealth Court Judge Daniel Pellegrini indicated he would stay the case – initially filed in the lower court – until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a different gerrymandering case out of Wisconsin. That delay, however, would likely make it impossible for the Pennsylvania case to have any relevance in the coming 2018 election cycle.
Candidates for congressional seats will be allowed to start gathering signatures to qualify for primary elections Feb. 13, almost exactly four months away.
“Delay in this case is effectively disenfranchisement,” said Elisabeth Theodore, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers.
“We are urging the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to take this case now, so that in the next election Pennsylvania voters can pick their representatives and not the other way around.”
Full Article: Plaintiffs in Pa. redistricting case ask Supreme Court to intervene | PennLive.com.