Lesson 1: What is Redistricting? This lesson will cover the 2020 Census,
and the Redistricting Data Program, and discuss what are redistricting data.
Redistricting is the redrawing of electoral district boundaries every
ten years to account for population shifts and growth during the previous decade.
The Decennial Census and redistricting go hand and hand. Article I,
Sections 2 of the Constitution, directs that the census or enumeration be taken.
So, every 10 years, starting with the first Census in 1790, the U.S. Census Bureau
conducts a Census once, only once, and in the right place, to determine
the number of people living in the United States for the purpose of reapportionment.
The data collected by the Decennial Census are used to determine the number of seats each state
has in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The population in 1790 was 3,929,625,
and Congress used these results to apportion 105 seats among 15 states.
According to the results of the 2020 Census, there were 331,449,281 people
living in the United States as of April 1st 2020 and 435 seats to apportion among 50 states.
With each Decennial Census the number of congressional seats
each state gets in the House of Representatives can change depending on the population.
State legislative bodies also use Decennial Census data for the purpose of redistricting.
Required by law, under the provisions of Title 13,
Section 141(c) of the United States Code (U.S.C.), the Secretary of Commerce is required to provide
the ‘‘officers or public bodies having initial responsibility for the legislative apportionment
or districting of each state ...’’ with the opportunity to specify geographic areas
such as blocks, voting districts for which they wish to receive Decennial Census population
counts by April 1 of the year following the decennial census. The Secretary is required
to furnish the state officials or their designees with population counts for American Indian areas,
counties, cities, census blocks, and state-specified congressional, legislative,
and voting districts. The 2020 Census Redistricting
Data Program has 5 phases. Phase 1 – is the Block
Boundary Suggestion Project (BBSP)
The BBSP provides states the opportunity to submit their suggestions for the 2020 Census tabulation block inventory.
(A Block is the smallest geographic area for which census data are available.
Blocks often use natural boundaries such as streets and rivers.
Suggestions were made by designating the desirability of linear features for use as 2020 Census tabulation block boundaries.
In addition, states had the opportunity to submit suggested legal boundary
updates as well as updates to other geographic areas.
These actions allowed states
to construct some of the small area geography they need it for legislative redistricting.
Participation in Phase 1
of the Redistricting Data Program was conducted through the non-partisan liaison designated by each state.
Phase 1 was conducted in two cycles, an initial identification of the updates needed,
and a verification cycle to ensure the suggested updates were accurately applied.
Phase 2 is the Voting District Project, which provided states the opportunity to submit their
voting districts for example wards and precincts for inclusion in the 2020 Census Redistricting Data tabulations.
This ensures states can get the 2020 Census data they need for their voting districts.
As was the case in phase 1, during phase 2 states had the opportunity to submit
suggested legal boundary updates as well as updates to other geographic areas.
These actions allowed states to construct some of the small area geography they need
for legislative redistricting.
Participation in Phase 2 of the Redistricting Data Program
was conducted through the non-partisan liaison designated by each state.
Phase 2 was conducted in three cycles. The first two cycles were an initial identification of the
voting districts and a verification stage to ensure the suggested updates were accurately
applied. The third cycle was an additional round of verification, for those states participating in
one or both of the first two cycles, to further review and adjust the voting districts.
This course pertains to Phase 3, delivery of the 2020 Census P.L. 94-171
Redistricting Data Files and Geographic Products. The Geographic Support Products were delivered to
the states and published on the Census Bureau's website in January and February of 2021.
For Phase 3 data delivery, regardless of a state's participation in Phase 1 or 2,
the Director of the Census Bureau will, furnish the Governor and state majority and minority legislative leaders,
redistricting commissions (when applicable),
and the non-partisan state liaisons with 2020 Census population counts for the geographic areas
needed to perform legislative redistricting.
In addition, for those states participating
in Phase 2, standard census tabulation will be provided for voting districts.
In 2019, the Census Bureau produced a prototype data product from the 2018 End-to-End Census Test
to illustrate and solicit feedback on what the 2020 Census
P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data File will look like and how it addresses the needs of the states
for their legislative redistricting requirements.
This prototype is what we will be demonstrating with today and will allow you to practice and get your databases set up in advance.
Phase 4 is to collect the 118th Congressional Districts and the new state legislative districts
from the states and Phase 5 evaluates and makes recommendations for the for the 2030
Census Redistricting Data Program.
Here is what you have learned so far.
First, the Redistricting Data Program collects information from the states
in order to define and update geographic boundaries for redistricting purposes.
Participating states have the opportunity to review the changes made.
The Census is then conducted.
The Census Bureau delivers the apportionment counts to the president, which are
used to apportion the 435 congressional district seats in the House of Representatives.
Next, the Census Bureau provides the PL 94-171 Redistricting Data Tabulations to the states.
After-which the Census Bureau collects the state redistricting plans and begins
to evaluate and plan for the future.
You can also anticipate other avenues to view and access redistricting data
and more detailed demographic and housing statistics will be available after the redistricting data is released.