Title
Calling upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to amend the election law so that prisoners are counted as residents of the county in which they reside prior to incarceration, rather than as residents of the county in which they are detained, for the purpose of apportioning legislative districts and calling upon the United States Census Bureau to change its method for counting prisoners so that prisoners are recorded as living at their last known address prior to incarceration.
Body
WHEREAS, Obtaining an accurate count of the population is so vital to a
representative democracy that the framers of the United States Constitution addressed the issue of the census and apportionment in the opening paragraphs of this governing document; and
WHEREAS, The right to vote and the right to representation is a fundamental civic right; and
WHEREAS, The Census Bureau applies the "usual residence" rule when it tabulates where people reside, which means that the Census Bureau generally counts people according to where they live and sleep most of the time; and
WHEREAS, Prisoners are therefore tabulated as residents of the counties of their incarceration rather than residents of the counties in which they resided prior to incarceration, locations where they likely have significant ties and interests; and
WHEREAS, The "usual residence" method of tabulation therefore results in a population shift to locations where prisons are situated; and
WHEREAS, This population shift is in direct contravention to the democratic principle of "one person, one vote;" and
WHEREAS, Minority communities and other traditionally disenfranchised groups suffer especially high rates of incarceration; and
WHEREAS, Prisons in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are overwhelmingly located in rural counties, yet the majority of prisoners in Pennsylvania reside in urban counties prior to incarceration; and
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