The agency which oversees elections in Pennsylvania is already working to implement the new Congressional district map produced by the state Supreme Court.
“We have a plan and we’re implementing it right now,” Jonathan Marks, a member of the Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation in the Pennsylvania State Department, said Tuesday. “We expect all of the updates that we need to make will be completed before the end of this week.”
He says there will be few, if any, changes when voters head to the polls for the May 15th primary election.
“The only change that voters should see, in many cases, are the names of candidates on the ballots for Congress,” he said. Things like where you vote and what you need to bring with you is not changing.
Marks says they’re working with county and location election officials to provide them with updated information and support.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court released a new congressional district map on Monday. In it, comes a big change for Butler County.
Butler had previously all been included under the 3rd Congressional District, which is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican, of Butler. Under the new map, Butler County would be split into three different districts.
Most of the townships in the eastern part of the county fall into the 15th Congressional District, along with Armstrong, Clarion, and Venango counties among others, stretching as far east to Centre County.
Most of the western portion of the county falls into the 16th Congressional District, along with Lawrence and Mercer counties and up to Erie.
A portion of southwestern Butler County in Cranberry Township would be lumped into the new 17th Congressional District, with Beaver County and the northern part of Allegheny.