The target date for apportionment data is April 30 2021. Bureau officials say a date for the release of redistricting data for the states is forthcoming, but they are certain that date will not be before July 30.
A Census Bureau official made these detailed remarks on Wed, Jan. 27 to a group of legislators and staff on a conference/video call organized by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In the past, processing and preparation of apportionment and redistricting data was accomplished in a parallel process. This decade, the Bureau made the decision to focus entirely on producing the apportionment data first. This was mostly a result of the delays put on the 2020 census by Covid-19.
With apportionment data delivery already past the Dec 31st statutory deadline, the Bureau explains that it is continuing to focus all of its resources on making the new, extended deadline of Apr. 30. The redistricting data delivery deadline is April 1st. With this announcement, it is clear that this data will not be available until late summer or early fall. This poses a serious logistical issue for at least two states with scheduled elections in 2021; Virginia and New Jersey.
The video below begins with the discussion of the census data delivery timeline by Kathleen M. Styles, Chief, Decennial Communications and Stakeholder Relations.
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