A Prep Checklist for Election Offices Before the Census Bureau’s 2028 Voting District Project Begins

By EditorJul 10, 2026

The U.S. Census Bureau's Voting District Project (VTDP) will give state liaisons the opportunity to submit and verify their voting districts, the Bureau's generic term for precincts, election districts, wards, and similar areas, for inclusion in the 2030 Census Redistricting Data products. Program submissions come only from the official state liaison, so local election and GIS offices take part by being designated as technical liaisons or by routing their data through the liaison. The quality of a state's submission depends on groundwork done locally, and the most useful steps can be taken well before the cycle opens in early 2028.…

Local Redistrictinglocal-admin, U.S. Census Bureau, vtdp

Colorado Is Out of the Redistricting Fight After Supreme Court Strikes Down All Ballot Measures

By EditorJun 30, 2026

The Colorado Supreme Court on June 29 unanimously struck down all five redistricting-related ballot initiatives that had been approved for signature gathering, ruling that each violated the state constitution's single-subject requirement. The single-subject rule, codified in Article V, Section 1(5.5) of the Colorado Constitution, provides that "no measure shall be proposed by petition containing more than one subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title," and that if a measure contains more than one subject such that a ballot title cannot be fixed to clearly express a single subject, "no title shall be set and the measure shall not…

Coloradocolorado, mid-decade redistricting, policyindepth

Georgia Republican Leaders Say No to Redistricting. For Now

By EditorJun 25, 2026

Georgia's Republican legislative leaders rejected Gov. Brian Kemp's call to redraw the state's congressional and state legislative district maps during a special session that convened on June 17, citing pending litigation and the need for more time to evaluate the legal landscape after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. House Speaker Jon Burns sent Kemp a letter hours before the session was scheduled to begin, writing that "changes to Georgia's maps should take place only when members of the General Assembly and citizens have been given ample opportunity to gather the facts, provide input, and engage in…

GeorgiaGeorgia, mid-decade redistricting, policyindepth

Callais Comes to County Government: Federal Judge Applies New VRA Standard to Mississippi Local Map

By EditorJun 25, 2026

A federal judge in Mississippi ruled on June 24 that DeSoto County's 2022 electoral map does not violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, dismissing a challenge brought by the DeSoto County NAACP, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and two Black voters who alleged the map dilutes Black voting power across 25 local offices, including the Board of Supervisors, Board of Education, Election Commission, justice court judges, and constables. The U.S. District Court, applying the Supreme Court's April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, found the plaintiffs failed all three preconditions of the Gingles test - the threshold legal standard…

Local Redistricting, MississippiLatest, lawindepth, local-news, Mississippi

Official vs. Technical Liaisons: Who Can Actually Submit in the Voting District Project

By EditorJun 24, 2026

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…

Local Redistrictinglocal-admin, U.S. Census Bureau, vtdp

Are your Precincts “Actual” or “Pseudo”? What Local Officials Should Know about the Census Bureau’s Voting District Program

By EditorJun 19, 2026

The Census Bureau tabulates population by census geography ( ie., census blocks, tracts, counties), not by the precincts and wards that election offices actually run. Without a way to bridge that gap, states would receive decennial population counts that could not be readily matched to their own election geography. The Voting District Project (VTDP) is that bridge: once each decade, as Phase 2 of the Redistricting Data Program, the Census Bureau invites each state to submit its voting districts - its generic term for precincts, election districts, and wards - so that population data can be tabulated for those areas…

Local Redistrictinglocal-admin, U.S. Census Bureau, vtdp

Census Watchdog Flags Risks to the 2030 Count

By EditorJun 18, 2026

A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) warns that the Census Bureau, having narrowed the scope of its 2026 Census Test, may finalize important parts of the 2030 count's design before it has evidence that those methods actually work. Released June 4, 2026, the report describes that the Bureau has reduced planned test sites from six to two and 19 planned operational activities to nine, leaving fewer opportunities to evaluate the new approaches the agency hopes to use at the end of the decade. These preparations matter far beyond the test itself, because the once-a-decade count determines…

Census Data and Geographycensus 2030, dataindepth, local-news, U.S. Census Bureau

Florida Supreme Court Declines to Intervene, Locking in Mid-Decade Map for 2026

By EditorJun 14, 2026

The Florida Supreme Court ruled 6-1 on Wednesday, June 10, that it lacks jurisdiction to intervene while the redistricting lawsuit is still pending before the First District Court of Appeal, and declined to use its "all writs" power to grant a temporary injunction against using the mid-decade congressional map that the Florida legislature passed in April that could shift the state’s delegation from a 20–8 Republican advantage to a potential 24–4 split. The ruling came after plaintiffs, the Equal Ground Education Fund, represented by the Elias Law Group, had filed a motion on May 28 to bypass the First District Court…

Florida, Redistricting LitigationFlorida, lawindepth, mid-decade redistricting

The Battle Over Colorado’s Congressional Map Will Be Decided by Voters

By EditorJun 12, 2026

Colorado's redistricting story in the post-2020 era unfolds in two distinct chapters. The first covers the state's post-census redistricting process, conducted entirely by citizen commissions established by voters in 2018, and the legal challenges that followed. The second, still unfolding, covers the state's response to the nationwide mid-decade redistricting wars launched in 2025, which have drawn Colorado into a contested ballot measure fight that will ultimately be decided by voters in November 2026. Together, the two chapters illustrate both how Colorado's independent redistricting architecture has insulated it from the partisan map-drawing that has roiled other states and the limits of…

Colorado, Strategy and Politicscolorado, policyindepth

New York Lawmakers Approve Amendment Allowing Mid-Decade Redistricting and Partisan Map-Drawing

By EditorJun 09, 2026

The New York State Legislature passed a sweeping constitutional amendment on June 3, 2026 (S.10637-A/A.11553) that would significantly restructure how the state draws congressional and state legislative district lines. The amendment passed both chambers on party-line votes, with Democrats in the majority supporting it and Republicans unanimously opposed. Introduced jointly on June 1 by the Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the amendment amends Sections 4 and 5-b of Article III of the New York State Constitution and adds a new Section 5-c. Among its most significant provisions it: explicitly permits mid-decade congressional redistricting; replaces the supermajority threshold…

New York, State Lawsmid-decade redistricting, new york, policyindepth