What to Watch: A Supreme Court Order on Alabama, and a Louisiana Hearing on the State’s Last Black-Majority District

By EditorOct 19, 20260 Comments

Both cases turn on Louisiana v. Callais, decided April 29, 2026, by a 6-3 Court in an opinion by Justice Alito, with Justice Kagan dissenting, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Jackson. The Court narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, holding that it “imposes liability only when the evidence supports a strong inference that the State intentionally drew its districts to afford minority voters less opportunity because of their race”. The dispute began when Louisiana drew one majority-minority congressional district out of six after the 2020 census; voters sued, arguing Section 2 required two districts. After creating a second minority district,…

RedistrictingAlabama, caseupdates, louisiana, mid-decade redistricting, Voting Rights Act

Maryland Supreme Court Sends Redistricting Amendment to Voters, With Rewritten Language

By EditorSep 07, 2026

The Supreme Court of Maryland ruled on September 3 that a proposed constitutional amendment on congressional redistricting will appear on the November ballot, reversing two circuit courts that had blocked it. The amendment would supersede a 2022 circuit court ruling by Judge Lynne Battaglia that applied the Maryland Constitution's compactness and contiguity requirements to congressional districts for the first time, standards previously understood to govern only state legislative districts. Senate President Bill Ferguson cited that ruling when he declined to have a Senate vote on a House-passed congressional map in February. The amendment (HB 2100) is intended to remove the…

Maryland, State Lawscaseupdates, Latest, Maryland, mid-decade redistricting

Missouri Judge Blocks Redistricting Referendum From November Ballot. Appeal Filed

By EditorAug 21, 2026

A Missouri judge has ruled that the state's congressional map cannot be put to a referendum vote. On August 19, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green upheld Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' refusal to place the referendum on the November ballot, found Hoskins' decision lawful, and ordered that the 2025 map "remain in full force and effect for the 2026 general election." Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the map into law on September 28, 2025, after calling the Republican-led General Assembly into a special session in response to President Trump's request that GOP-controlled states redraw their congressional boundaries before the midterms.…

Redistrictingcaseupdates, Latest, lawindepth, mid-decade redistricting, Missouri, referendum

Draft Census Rule Would Affect Apportionment and Block-Level Race Data

By EditorAug 16, 2026

A draft federal rule circulating within the Trump administration would change both who the census counts for congressional apportionment and what the census is permitted to ask. The document proposes two independent regulations: one narrowing the definition of "usual residence" so that foreign citizens other than lawful permanent residents, approved asylees, and approved refugees would not be counted for apportionment, and one barring questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation from the census questionnaire. It is important to note that the draft is marked predecisional, and does not purport to be final. The rule has not been published in the…

Census Law, DATA and TECHNOLOGYcensus 2030, census data, dataindepth, local-admin, national, News, U.S. Census Bureau

The BBSP Deadline Passed. Now What? A Guide for Local Officials

By EditorJul 18, 2026

The Block Boundary Suggestion Project (BBSP) exists so that states can identify non-standard features often used as electoral boundaries (power lines, property lines, or streams) that could serve alongside more traditional features (such as street centerlines) as census tabulation block boundaries. States, through their official liaisons, may also identify features that are not desirable as block boundaries. In addition, legal boundaries reviewed in coordination with the annual Boundary and Annexation Survey also become census tabulation block boundaries. Where no suggestions are submitted, local precinct boundaries following features the Bureau does not already carry are unlikely to appear as census block…

DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Local RedistrictingBBSP, dataindepth, local-admin, U.S. Census Bureau

The Boundary Annexation Survey (BAS) Submission Checklist for Local Governments

By EditorJul 14, 2026

The Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) is the Census Bureau's annual check-in with local government on where its legal boundaries actually are. Each year the Bureau contacts federally recognized American Indian areas, counties and county equivalents, incorporated places, and minor civil divisions, asking each to confirm that the Bureau has the correct boundary, name, and status for that government. The public and data users rely on the annual BAS boundaries as the official federal representation of boundaries for legal governments. The Census Bureau maintains this data in its MAF/TIGER System and publishes the results through the annual TIGER/Line release. For…

DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Local RedistrictingBAS, dataindepth, local-admin, U.S. Census Bureau

8th Circuit Reverses Its Ruling on Native American Minority District Post Callais

By EditorJul 11, 2026

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday, July 7, to reverse a 2023 legal victory by the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Nation, in which a federal district court judge had concluded that North Dakota's state legislative map unlawfully diluted Native American voting strength in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The case has a long procedural history. In 2023, the U.S. District Court sided with the tribes and ordered a remedial map, which was used in the 2024 elections, resulting in three tribal members being elected to…

RedistrictingLatest, lawindepth, News, North Dakota, Voting Rights Act

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

BBSP vs. BAS: Two Census Programs, Two Crucial Jobs

By EditorJun 04, 2026

The Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) and the Block Boundary Suggestion Project (BBSP) are often conflated; both involve local geography and the Census Bureau, but they do different jobs. BAS is the Bureau's annual survey to keep the legal boundaries and names of governments current, such as city limits, county lines, township boundaries, and tribal areas. BBSP is a once-a-decade phase of the Redistricting Data Program in which a state suggests which features the Bureau should use as statistical census tabulation block (census block) boundaries. The other differences follow from that split. BAS runs every year, and each eligible government…

DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Local RedistrictingBAS, BBSP, dataindepth, local-admin, U.S. Census Bureau