A view of the front portico of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington, DC.
A group of Pennsylvania voters, including two Republican congressional candidates, are asking for the U.S. Supreme Court to override the state Supreme Court’s choice for the commonwealth’s new congressional map.
Ending months of uncertainty, justices picked a map last week submitted by a national group aligned with the Democratic Party, and represented by Democratic attorney Marc Elias, out of 13 total submissions.
Pa. Supreme Court court picks national Dems’ map as new congressional plan
But “this course of action is flagrantly unconstitutional,” the plaintiffs argued in a 44-page filing to the U.S. Supreme Court Monday.
Instead, they ask for the federal justices to block the state court’s map choice and instead force the state to hold a 17-person, at-large congressional election to fill the state’s shrinking Washington delegation until the General Assembly and governor can agree on a map.
Federal suit asks to block Pa. judges from picking congressional map
The at-large election follows an obscure 1941 statute that is supposed to govern congressional elections for states that lose a seat in the House of Representatives.
The case was already filed in federal district court, but the plaintiffs, including northeastern Pennsylvania congressional candidate Jim Bognet, asked for emergency relief from the Supreme Court.
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