Pennsylvania top court releases new U.S. congressional voting map for state
(Reuters) - Pennsylvania's top court published a new map of U.S. congressional voting districts for the state on Monday after Democratic and Republican leaders were unable to come to an agreement on other proposals, in a closely watched action ahead of the November mid-term elections.
The new map was posted on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's website after the court's Democratic majority voted last month to invalidate the previous map as an unconstitutional gerrymander. The court ruled that Republican lawmakers marginalized Democratic voters to win more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Pennsylvania is a hotly contested swing state, and the redistricting is expected to boost Democrats' chances of winning several U.S. House seats in the state in the November elections.
Democrats need to gain 24 seats nationwide to take control of the House from Republicans. Republicans currently hold 13 of Pennsylvania's 18 U.S. congressional seats.
The state's Supreme Court decided to draw its own map with the help of independent redistricting experts after Democratic Governor Tom Wolf rejected a version drawn by Republican legislative leaders as unfairly skewed in their party's favor.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Grant McCool and Leslie Adler)
