Restraining Order Halting Census Wind-down Operation is Extended by Judge

By EditorSep 21, 2020
On Thursday, a federal district court judge extended a temporary restraining order barring the Census Bureau from wrapping up its counting operations in order to deliver census results on its statutory time schedule. The plaintiffs in the case are asking the court to compel the Bureau to take more time to complete the nationwide count since it was delayed earlier this Spring due to Covid-19. Listen below to NPR's quick update on how and why this happened. NPR Morning Edition - Court Order Keeps Census In Limbo As Counting End Date Looms 9-17-20 In March, the Bureau had requested an…
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Watch: House Committee Holds Hearing on Census Timeline

Watch: House Committee Holds Hearing on Census Timeline

By EditorSep 13, 2020
On September 10, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform held a hearing on the status of the Census Bureau's operations in light of Covid-19 delays and other challenges. The hearing was prompted by suspension of count operations in April due to Covid-19, a failed request for Congress to extend critical statutory deadlines for delivery of census data, and an abrupt pivot by the bureau to end its count operations early in an effort to meet the original deadlines for delivery of apportionment and redistricting data. https://youtu.be/c4OF6jQFfgc Witnesses include: J. Christopher Mihm, Managing Director, Strategic Issues Team, Government Accountability Office…
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Listen: 3 Minute Summary of Court Ruling on Trump Administrations Apportionment Count Method

Listen: 3 Minute Summary of Court Ruling on Trump Administrations Apportionment Count Method

By EditorSep 12, 2020
NPR's "All Things Considered" explains the recent New York federal district court ruling involving the apportionment count. It is one of several lawsuits seeking to enjoin the president from requiring the Census Bureau to report an estimate of the number of illegal immigrants in each state for the purpose of using that info to apportion House seats in the U.S. Congress. A presidential memorandum seeks to adjust state total population counts used for apportionment, to exclude residents who are in the country illegally. NPR - All Things Considered. Sept. 10, 2020 (link)
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Here’s the Status of the 2020 Census. So Far . . .

Here’s the Status of the 2020 Census. So Far . . .

By EditorSep 12, 2020
Need a quick explanation on whats going on with the census? wondering if it will be delayed, extended or or cut short? Listen to Jeffrey Wice, an adjunct professor and senior fellow at New York Law School and head of the school’s New York Census and Redistricting Institute - explain what we know up to this point. But remember, things may be changing as you read this. https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/news/2020/09/09/census-count-update#
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Panel Discusses Election Administration, Redistricting and Campaign Finance

Panel Discusses Election Administration, Redistricting and Campaign Finance

By EditorFeb 06, 2019
On Thursday, January 31, a panel of professors and activists met to discuss the state of the American election system. Here is the description provided by the Hammer Forum of UCLA: . "The 2018 midterm elections revealed egregious voter suppression tactics and mismanagement of polling places but also slate of new reforms that eliminate barriers to voting for many Americans. Kathay Feng, California Common Cause executive director; Franita Tolson, USC Gould School of Law professor; Justin Levitt, Loyola Law School professor; and Michael Morley, Florida State University law professor, discuss the future of voting rights and election laws with moderator Rick Hasen, UC Irvine…
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Redistricting Reform Advocates Strategize at Gerrymandering Summit

Redistricting Reform Advocates Strategize at Gerrymandering Summit

By EditorJan 22, 2019
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy hosted the "Terminate Gerrymandering Summit and Fair Maps Incubator " Conference earlier this month as part of an effort to take advantage of the momentum that independent redistricting commission movements have created across the country with several states passing ballot initiatives to create "California Style" commissions. . The project is the brainchild of former CA governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The institute on campus that bears his name hosted this event at which he was the keynote speaker. Schwarzenegger explains that he wants to "accelerate the fight, bringing together those who’ve won nonpartisan redistricting…
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Federal Court Rejects a Citizenship Question for the 2020 Census

Federal Court Rejects a Citizenship Question for the 2020 Census

By EditorJan 15, 2019
A New York federal district court has rejected the administration's bid to place a citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 census. The U.S. Department of Commerce, which is the main defendant in the lawsuit, will most likely appeal this decision but this just deepens the legal, financial and operational challenges that the Census Bureau must endure just under 15 months away from the 2020 census, the data from which, states and local governments will use to redraw electoral lines. NPR lists the possible effects that the current government shutdown and this lawsuit will have on census 2020 planning here. Read…
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Listen to the NCSL Webinar on Recent Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decisions

Listen to the NCSL Webinar on Recent Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decisions

By EditorJul 24, 2018
Last week the National Conference of State Legislatures hosted this webinar on the recent Supreme Court Partisan Gerrymandering decisions.  You can watch/listen below.  The discussion gives good insight into the current posture of the litigation in Wisconsin and Maryland and other states.  (more…)
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Concerns about the Cyber-Security of the 2020 Census Elevate

By EditorJul 24, 2018
The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center has sent a signed letter to the Secretary of Commerce and the Acting Directer of the U.S. Census Bureau requesting assurances that the upcoming decennial census will be accurate and secure given heightened threats in the cyber-security environment.  (more…)
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