Kim Geyer

Several Butler County officials and nine Summit Township residents are among a group of state voters trying to have their say in redistricting the state's congressional district map.

A hearing Friday in Commonwealth Court is being held to determine if they can intervene in a lawsuit filed against two state officials regarding a proposed map that divides the township into the 16th and 12th districts.

Republican county Commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer, Sheriff Mike Slupe and township residents are among 25 voters seeking to become “citizen-voter intervenors” in the suit against Veronica Degraffenreid, former acting secretary of the commonwealth, and Jessica Mathis, director of the bureau of election services and notaries. Degraffenreid has since been replaced by Leigh Chapman, who is not a respondent in the suit.

The proposed map consolidates the existing 18 districts into 17 based on results of the 2020 Census. It would divide Summit Township, placing most of it the 16th District and much of the southeastern portion, which includes Herman, in the 12th District. Currently, the township is split between the 16th and 15th districts represented by Reps. Mike Kelly, R-16th, and Glenn “G.T.” Thompson, R-15th, respectively.

“We want to see Butler County not subdivided into multiple districts. We don't want to see any townships or precincts divided,” said Geyer, who is testifying virtually in Friday's hearing.

Voting in the township is confusing for residents and expensive for the election bureau, which has to print two different ballots for two different congressional districts in the same precinct, she said.

“We're going to be talking specifically about how it impacts the precinct, how we have to print double ballots for the different districts and how confusing it is for residents and taxpayers,” Geyer said.

The county is not a petitioner, and no county tax dollars are being used to cover legal fees, said Butler attorney Tom Breth, of the Dillon McCandless King Coulter & Graham law firm, which is presenting arguments to intervene Friday.

Breth said county voters want to intervene in a consolidated suit filed by voters in other counties against the currently proposed map. If the court allows them to intervene, they will have until Jan. 28 to submit their own redistricting map to the court, he said.

“The map proposes to split Butler County into two congressional districts, including splitting one municipality into two districts, so they're chopping up Butler County even more than it's chopped up now,” Breth said.

Redistricting over the years has resulted in districts that “zigzag” through the state, he said. The 16th District runs from southern Butler County to Erie County and the 15th stretches from a small part of the eastern Butler County to Centre County.

The General Assembly adjourned the 2021 legislative session without adopting a new map. The House State Government Committee voted a preliminary map out of committee on Dec. 15, but it was never brought up for consideration in the House. The General Assembly reconvened Wednesday.

The filing period for candidate nomination papers for the 2022 primary election is scheduled to begin Feb. 15. Degraffenreid and Mathis have indicated that a final congressional district map must be signed into law by Jan. 24 to ensure that the 2022 primary election can go forward as planned, according to the suit.