The Census Bureau runs the Redistricting Data Program through a single official nonpartisan liaison in each state, jointly identified by the governor and the legislative leaders responsible for redistricting. That liaison manages the geographic updates submitted in each phase and reviews and approves them before the Bureau loads them into its MAF/TIGER database. Program submissions are accepted only from the official liaison, but that does not exclude local expertise from the process.
The official liaison may designate technical liaisons – for example, county GIS staff – who can perform geographic updates and submit completed work to the Census Bureau on the state’s behalf, while the official liaison retains final approval over what is loaded. In practice, a county office can do the hands-on work but cannot submit on its own initiative; it must be designated by and coordinated through the state’s official liaison. The takeaway for any local office that wants to contribute is to reach the state liaison early and ask to be designated as a technical liaison before the workload builds.
For more on the liaison roles and how to take part, see the Census Bureau’s Redistricting Data Program Management page, or contact the Redistricting & Voting Rights Data Office at rdo@census.gov or 301-763-4039.
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