Pennsylvania could keep its Democratic high court majority or get partisan deadlock on the bench

By MARC LEVY, Associated Press

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania voters on Tuesday will decide whether to keep a Democratic majority on the state’s highest court — the center of pivotal fights over voting rights , redistricting and elections — or potentially plunge the court into a partisan deadlock in a premier presidential battleground.

The outcome will affect how the state Supreme Court could again be called on to settle partisan battles over election laws ahead of next year’s midterm contests.

Democratic Supreme Court justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht are running in a retention election, in which voters are asked to vote “yes” or “no” on whether to give them another term.

Reelecting any of them would continue the Democratic majority, which is