Maine: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

Maine: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

By EditorMar 17, 2021
Desena v. Maine, No. 1:11-cv-117 (D. Me.) A 1975 amendment to the state constitution required Maine to reapportion its districts every 10 years, starting in 1983. After the 2010 census data was completed, Maine’s two congressional districts saw an increased population differential. Instead of having a gap of 23 residents between the two congressional districts as was the case after the previous redistricting cycle, these two districts varied by 8,669 residents. Plaintiffs, who were residents of the larger district, sued the state on March 28, 2011, alleging that the plan from 2003, which was in effect for the 2012 election…
FEATURES, Redistricting Equal Population, Redistricting Litigation, Uncategorized, ,
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NCSL Overview: Reallocating Incarcerated Persons for Redistricting

NCSL Overview: Reallocating Incarcerated Persons for Redistricting

By EditorMar 17, 2021
In this recent article, the National Conference of State Legislatures gives an overview of the fairly recent practice of prisoner reallocation in redistricting. This process refers to counting prisoners at their home address for redistricting purposes instead of the prison's address - which is what the census does. Prisoner reallocation involves obtaining records from prison officials and careful adjustment of official census data files. This overview explains the practice and how it relates to representation. Since this article was first published, Illinois became the tenth state to mandate prisoner reallocation beginning in 2030. Feb. 18, 2021: States redistrict their legislative…
FEATURES, Redistricting, Redistricting Prisoners, , , ,
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How the Census Bureau Plans to Ensure an Accurate Census Group Quarters Count Despite Covid-19

How the Census Bureau Plans to Ensure an Accurate Census Group Quarters Count Despite Covid-19

By EditorMar 16, 2021
In this latest post from the Random Samplings Blog, Deborah Stempowski, Asst. Director for Decennial Census Programs, Operations and Schedule Mgmt, and James Christy, Asst. Director for Field Operations discuss the impact of Covid-19 on Group Quarters Data and how the Bureau has adjusted its post-data collection operations to ensure the accuracy of counts in colleges, group homes, prisons, and other group housing. Read the post below. 2020 Census Group Quarters: As we continue processing 2020 Census results, we’d like to provide more information on how we count people living in group quarters (GQs), such as nursing homes, military barracks…
Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Redistricting,
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U.S. Census Bureau Suggests Possibility of Redistricting Data in August, but with a catch.

U.S. Census Bureau Suggests Possibility of Redistricting Data in August, but with a catch.

By Michelle DavisMar 16, 2021
In a recent court filing and press release, the U.S. Census Bureau appears to be open to the possibility of delivering untabulated data by mid to late August to requesting states if they take the responsibility for reporting the data accurately. In its litigation in federal court in Ohio, which sued the Bureau for missing its statutory deadline to provide redistricting data to states - the Bureau filed a declaration explaining in detail its operational limitations for delivering the data files before the Sept 30 deadline it announced weeks ago. In doing so, it acknowledged that it was physically possible…
Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, LATEST, Redistricting,
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Florida: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

Florida: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

By EditorMar 15, 2021
Florida’s litigation in the 2010 cycle focused primarily on the “Fair Districts Amendments” added to the state constitution by initiative in 2010. There were two nearly identical amendments: one setting standards applicable to congressional districts (art. III, § 20), and the other setting standards applicable to state legislative districts (art. III, § 21). The amendments spawned a flood of litigation challenging the amendments themselves, plans adopted under the new standards, and—in the process—plaintiffs’ attempts to determine the intent of the legislators who adopted the plans.. The new constitutional standards are set out in two tiers. The first-tier standards have equal…
NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation
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Here’s the Compressed 2021 Timeline for State Congressional Maps if Congress Passes HR1

Here’s the Compressed 2021 Timeline for State Congressional Maps if Congress Passes HR1

By Jeffrey M. WiceMar 15, 2021
H.R. 1—the For the People Act—mandates significant changes to states’ congressional redistricting processes beginning with the post-2020 census redistricting in 2021. Under H.R. 1, a state’s congressional redistricting plan must be approved by a 15-member independent redistricting commission. The first six Commissioners are randomly chosen from a 36-member Selection Pool, and those six Commissioners then appoint the final nine. If a state does not form the required commission, a federal three-judge court will draw the district lines. I along with my colleague and Fellow at the New York Law School, Nicholas P. Stabile, have drafted this quick timeline for what…
Enacting a Redistricting Map, LATEST, Redistricting, , , , , , ,
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West Virginia: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

West Virginia: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

By EditorMar 12, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision and upheld West Virginia's 2011 congressional map with population deviations between districts of .79 percent. Tennant v. Jefferson County, No. 11-1184, 567 U.S. 758 (Sep. 25, 2012) The Jefferson County Commission and residents of Jefferson County alleged that West Virginia’s 2011 congressional plan violated the “one-person, one-vote” principle of Article I, § 2, of the U.S. Constitution. West Virginia created a redistricting plan that had a maximum population deviation of 0.79 percent (the variance between the smallest and largest districts). The State conceded that it could have made a plan with less deviation,…
NEWS, Redistricting Litigation, State Laws
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Wisconsin Lawsuit Challenges Legislatures’ Move to Retain Law Firms for Future Redistricting Challenges

By EditorMar 11, 2021
In most states, post-redistricting litigation is a foregone conclusion. In anticipation of just that, the Majority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate and the Speaker of the House entered into contracts for legal services with two law firms on behalf of the legislature in preparation for inevitable legal challenges after maps are enacted. On Wednesday, a group of citizens sued on behalf of taxpayers to void those contracts as unauthorized expenditures of public funds. At issue is a state statute that allows the speaker and majority leader to obtain legal counsel other than from the Wisconsin department of justice, with the…
Case Updates, NEWS, Redistricting Litigation,
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2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission Expands Public Input Tool to Chinese and Tagalog

2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission Expands Public Input Tool to Chinese and Tagalog

By EditorMar 11, 2021
PRESS RELEASE: March 11, 2021 SACRAMENTO, CA—Today, the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission (Commission) and the California Statewide Database announced the availability of the online Communities of Interest (COI) mapping tool in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Tagalog, in addition to English and Spanish. Every 10 years, after the federal government publishes updated census information, California must redraw the boundaries of its Congressional, State Senate, State Assembly, and State Board of Equalization districts so that the state’s population is evenly allocated among the new districts. When the Commission creates new districts, it must follow certain guidelines, one of which is…
NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Commissions, Redistricting Criteria
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