Having recently spent some time in Delaware County, it caused me to review how Delaware County was impacted by the now overturned Redistricting maps and compare this to the Holt evidence.
Delaware County Up Close (pdf, 4MB) uses Delaware County as the illustration for explaining the redistricting process. It also shows the difference between the map created by the Commission and the evidence in the Holt Plan.
Perhaps most striking is how Delaware County might serve as a microcosm of the statewide issue of excessive splits. It is notable in both the Senate and House.
In the Senate, Delaware County is divided between 4 instead of 3 districts. The Commission even split two municipalities — the only ones divided in the entire state other than Pittsburgh and Philadelphia which exceed the size of a Senate district.
In the House, the excessive divisions grow even more striking. 16 places are split into 33 pieces when meeting the law only requires the dividing 2 places into 5 pieces. And although complying with the law required no wards to be split, the Commission severed 10 into 21 fragments.
