RG-51. RECORDS OF THE LEGISLATIVE REAPPORTIONMENT COMMISSIONS

The periodic establishment of Legislative Reapportionment Commissions to redistribute the representation in the General Assembly in each year following the federal decennial census is mandated as part of the 1968 constitutional process to amend the state constitution (Section 17, Article 11, approved April 23, 1968). Prior to this amendment, the General Assembly was responsible for apportioning the state into legislative districts.

Records of the 1971-1972 Legislative Reapportionment Commission, 1971-1972. (3 cartons) Arranged chronologically by date of document. Administrative files of the commission chairman of the 1971 Legislative Reapportionment Commission, consisting primarily of minutes, correspondence, reports, hearing transcripts and tapes, census data, maps, news clippings, press releases, court appeals, and the preliminary and final plans for the legislative reapportionment of Pennsylvania after the federal census of 1970. Exceptions and objections to the plans from senatorial districts 1-6 include a December 16, 1971 memo from the New Democratic Coalition citing gerrymandering: "This plan is designed to limit black leadership and is discriminatory in the way districts are created."

Records of the 1981-1982 Legislative Reapportionment Commission, 1981-1982. (4 cartons) Arranged chronologically by date of document. Administrative files of the commission chairman of the 1981 Legislative Reapportionment Commission, consisting primarily of appeals in the courts, census data, commission expenses, correspondence prior to filing the preliminary plan, exceptions to the preliminary plan, computer printouts, maps, minutes, newspaper clippings, public hearing transcripts, and the preliminary and final plans for the legislative reapportionment of Pennsylvania after the federal census of 1980. The files include the following items:

• A letter from Charles Bacas to the Honorable James J. Monderino dated February 26, 1981 addressing the undercount of African Americans who lived in urban areas which were found to exist in censuses prepared and issued by the Census Bureau. An example of a discrimination case is Young vs. Klutznick (September 25, 1980, Detroit, Michigan). In that case, a district judge enjoined the Census Bureau from certifying "a population count based on the actual unadjusted head count." (Other relevant cases that might be cited here include City of Philadelphia vs. Klutznick, City of Chester vs. Klutznick, City of Atlanta vs. Klutznick, Bernard Carey vs. Klutznick, etc.)

• A Fortune magazine article dated February 9, 1981 which discussed the issue of the undercount of minorities in urban areas.

Records of the 1991-1992 Legislative Reapportionment Commission, 1991-1992. (2 cartons) {unprocessed} Files pertaining to the original, preliminary, and final plans for reapportionment of voting districts in Pennsylvania following the 1990 census. Among the materials found are court appeals, census data, public hearing transcripts, preliminary reapportionment plans, computer printouts of voting and population statistics from the Legislative Data Processing Center, maps, minutes, newspaper clippings, and a copy of the final reapportionment plan. Among the appeals is a February 5, 1992 civil action suit in which William Harrison, et al. claimed discrimination by the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission. The case cites specific violations of the Voting Rights Act which was designed to prevent voting blocks and the limitation of opportunities for minority leaders. Included in exceptions and objections to the plan is a letter to the Commission rejecting the plan from the Norristown branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The letter explains that the plan has "put up a wall thru the black population of Norristown and also thru the whole community of Norristown. You have virtually eliminated Norristown’s black, and its white, voice in state legislative elections."

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