The Census Bureau’s May 29, 2026, deadline for Block Boundary Suggestion Project submissions has come and gone. For local officials and GIS staff who were unaware of the program, were understaffed, or simply unable to get their state liaison engaged in time, the question now is a practical one: what can still be done, and how do you ensure the 2030 redistricting cycle goes as smoothly as possible from here? The answer is more encouraging than you might expect, but it requires moving quickly and strategically on several fronts.
There is still one more BBSP opportunity, but only briefly
The Census Bureau will process all submissions from the initial BBSP round and then open a verification phase in early 2027, during which states can confirm their updates were processed correctly. Critically, the 2020 BBSP cycle established a precedent that may carry forward: during that cycle’s verification phase, which ran from December 2016 through May 2017, all states, including those that had not submitted anything during the initial round, were given the opportunity to submit additional updates. Because the Census Bureau has stated that the BBSP has not appreciably changed since the 2020 cycle, the verification phase opening in early 2027 may represent a second chance for jurisdictions that missed the May 29 deadline. Local officials should contact their state liaison now to confirm whether this option will be available and begin preparing any boundary suggestions they want to submit.
What the BBSP window closing actually means for your data
For jurisdictions whose state submitted nothing, the Census Bureau will form 2030 tabulation blocks from the features already in its MAF/TIGER database, applying its standard criteria, holding features such as primary and secondary roads automatically, and deciding whether other features (local roads, alleys, railroads, streams) qualify as block boundaries by its own criteria rather than by local suggestion. Features that are not in TIGER, such as drainage easements, utility corridors, ridgelines, and property lines commonly used as precinct boundaries, will not become block boundaries unless a participant adds or flags them during the BBSP or verification phase, or they are incorporated into TIGER through other Census programs such as the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS). The block geography that emerges from this process becomes the fixed foundation for the Voting District Project, which the Census Bureau plans to announce in late 2027, with the initial voting district update cycle beginning in early 2028. This means any precinct boundary that relies on an unrecognized feature will need to be approximated to the nearest available block edge when VTDP submissions are processed.
What to do right now: a practical checklist for jurisdictions that missed the deadline
There are concrete steps local officials and GIS staff can take between now and early 2027 to minimize the impact and maximize their position going into VTDP.
Contact your state liaison immediately. Confirm whether your state participated in the initial BBSP round, what was submitted, and whether the early-2027 verification phase will allow new submissions. Liaison contacts can be found through your Secretary of State’s office, state legislative research office, or State Data Center. The Census Bureau’s Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office can also assist at rdo@census.gov or 301-763-4039
Pull the prototype 2030 block shapefiles. The Census Bureau posted prototype block shapefiles to its website in January 2026. Download these for your jurisdiction and overlay them against your current precinct boundaries in GIS. Identify every location where a precinct boundary crosses a block boundary rather than following one; those are your potential split block problems.
Document every non-standard boundary feature. Compile a list of every precinct boundary in your jurisdiction that follows a feature not likely to be in TIGER: utility easements, drainage corridors, ridgelines, property lines, or unpaved private roads. Note the feature type, location, and which precincts it separates. This documentation is your submission-ready list for the verification phase.
Review any annexations since 2020. Any territory annexed into your jurisdiction since the 2020 Census may have boundaries that are not yet reflected in TIGER. These are high-priority items for the verification-phase submission and BAS coordination.
Participate in the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS). The BAS is the annual Census Bureau program through which local governments report changes to their legal boundaries, and those updates feed into TIGER and can influence block boundaries. The survey runs on an annual cycle; if your jurisdiction is not already participating, enroll for the next round.
Begin preparing your VTDP submission files early. The VTDP submission cycle does not begin until early 2028 (with the Bureau’s formal announcement expected in late 2027), but the preparation work, compiling precinct boundary shapefiles, verifying precinct codes and names, documenting boundary changes since 2020, takes time. Starting now gives your GIS staff well over a year to identify and resolve alignment problems before the submission window opens.
Flag precincts that may need to be redrawn. If your GIS review reveals precinct boundaries that follow features unlikely to ever be recognized as block boundaries, it may be more practical to redraw those precincts along existing block edges now – before the 2030 Census- than to submit an approximation during VTDP.
The bottom line. Missing the May 29 deadline is not ideal, but it may not be fatal. The verification phase in early 2027 likely provides at least a partial second chance, and the steps above will put your jurisdiction in the strongest possible position for VTDP regardless.
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