A revised congressional redistricting map passed Wednesday by the Pennsylvania House State Government Committee includes minor revisions from the previously announced districts as to how Butler County will be represented in the U.S. House of Representatives.

But, County Commissioner Kim Geyer said, those minor changes will have a big impact.

The new map, which still must be considered by the full state House of Representatives, removes several of what Geyer called “carve-outs.” One such example on the northern tier of the county included Marion Township's inclusion in District 16; Venango Township and Cherry Valley and Eau Claire in District 12; and Allegheny Township, west of Venango, in District 16.

Those non-continguous districts are gone in the map passed Wednesday, much to Geyer's relief.

“That's much better,” she said upon seeing the new map.

But the adjustment came with a negative for the commissioners. Summit Township, to the east of Butler Township, is bifurcated in the new map. While most of the township is included in the 16th District, much of Summit's southeastern tier, which includes the unincorporated community of Herman, would be in the 12th District.

That's precisely what commissioners sought to not have.

“What we were hoping was that we weren't splitting municipalities,” County Commissioners Chairwoman Leslie Osche said. “So, it appears as though we still have one municipality split.”

In August testimony before the House State Government Committee, both Geyer and commissioner Kevin Boozel included in their priorities that splitting voting precincts — such as the Summit Township South precinct — is a net negative. “There are concerns regarding the redistricting of Pennsylvania congressional districts to include splitting of counties, but even more so the splitting of precincts,” Boozel said in August. “This behavior causes a lot of stress on voters, causes a lot of stress on elections staff and is extremely inefficient.”

Geyer echoed both hers and Boozel's testimony Wednesday. While, she said, the acceptance of a citizen-submitted map is overall positive, it is still important to not unnecessarily burden county elections staff or voters. She pointed to the splitting of Cranberry Township, part of which is currently in the 16th District while part is in the 17th.

“It's confusing for residents when they go to vote and it's costly for our Elections Bureau because they're printing out two different ballots for two different congressional districts” in the same precinct, she said. “We don't want people to be any more confused than they may already be, given the new laws and regulations and nuances associated with Act 77” of 2019.

Act 77 included no-excuse mail-in voting, the extension of time to register to vote and the creation of a permanent mail-in or absentee ballot list, among other election changes.

For its flaws, state Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, said it's certainly an improvement on the current map.

“It's a lot easier to understand than the past ones,” said Mustello, whose district includes Butler City. “If you remember, there's some neighborhoods that were split in Jefferson Township, and people didn't know which street was whose district. In this case, it's a little bit more clear-cut.”

Plus, this proposed map isn't the be-all and end-all, Geyer said.

“There's still time to submit comments to (state) Rep. Seth Grove (R-196th, State Government Committee chairman), who we do know and have communicated with him oftentimes on Act 77 and Act 12 and different legislative issues. He's very approachable,” she said. “I want to take a look at the updates and discuss with the other commissioners. I'm sure we'll comment on what the impact would be and see if we can make any adjustments pertaining to Summit Township or any township that's divided.”

The proposed map still must pass the full state House. The state Senate must also pass its own map, and the two chambers must pass an identical “compromise” map before it will be sent to Gov. Tom Wolf.