Census Bureau Releases Quality Indicators on 2020 Census

By EditorApr 26, 2021

Press Release: APRIL 26, 2021 — Today the U.S. Census Bureau released information about the quality of the 2020 Census from two methods: (1) analyses that compare the first census results to other ways of measuring the population, and (2) metrics that provide insight into the census operations. The Census Bureau accelerated plans for releasing this information because of increased interest in how COVID-19 and its impact on operations may have impacted the quality of the 2020 Census. This is the first time that the Census Bureau has released such detailed analyses and operational quality metrics on the same day as…

Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, NEWS, Redistrictingapportionment, census, census 2020, dataindepth, national, U.S. Census Bureau

The National Urban League (et al.) Agreed to Settle its Lawsuit Seeking to Slowdown the Census Work Plan. Here are the Details of the Agreement.

By EditorApr 24, 2021

On Thursday, the federal district court overseeing litigation challenging the U.S. Census Bureau's handling of 2020 Census data collection and post-processing, issued an order to dismiss the case with detailed stipulations for all parties involved. The lead plaintiff, The National Urban League and various other entities In National Urban League v. Raimondo have agreed to cease litigation in return for regular and robust assurances that 2020 Census data will be processed carefully and accurately. Below is a summary of the stipulations and selected quotes from the court's order. " . . .the parties agree that rather than continuing to dispute…

Case Updates, Census Law, LAW, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigationcensus, census 2020, lawindepth, national urban league, U.S. Census Bureau

Federal District Court Issues Dismissal of Census Bureau Lawsuit with Detailed Stipulations for Both Parties

By EditorApr 23, 2021

The U.S. Census Bureau has reached an agreement with the various plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to ensure census data accuracy by asking the court to enforce extended timelines for processing 2020 census data. The lawsuit was originally filed to enjoin the bureau from ending its counting operations one month before its previously scheduled deadline of October 31, 2020. Further requests by plaintiffs sought to block the bureau from attempting to modify apportionment data to only include citizens and ensure that data accuracy did not suffer as the bureau sought to meet statutory deadlines for reporting data earlier in…

Case Updates, Casedocs, Census Law, RedistrictingCalifornia, CASEDOCS, census, census 2020, national urban league, U.S. Census Bureau

Students, educators can now enter Ohio Education Association’s redistricting contest through June 1, 2021

By EditorApr 20, 2021

On Monday the Ohio Education Association extended its May 1st deadline for entries into the association's Design Ohio’s Future contest to June 1. The contest invites students and educators to submit nonpartisan redistricting maps. Read the press release below: DEADLINE EXTENSION: Students, educators can now enter Ohio Education Association’s redistricting contest through June 1, 2021 [April 19, 2021] As Ohio’s lawmakers prepare to once again redraw the state legislative and congressional district maps, Ohio students and educators are being asked to try their own hands at redistricting as part of the Ohio Education Association’s Design Ohio’s Future contest. Although the contest…

Redistricting, REFORMOhio, STATENEWS

Census Bureau: New Demonstration Data Will Feature Higher Privacy-loss Budget, Satisfies Redistricting Accuracy Target

By EditorApr 19, 2021

On Monday, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it has decided on the precise algorithm for its disclosure avoidance tool / differential privacy method. In short, the algorithm used to inject "noise" in the raw census data to protect privacy, will be set to inject a significantly lower level of noise into the data in comparison to previous samples released to the data user community over the past 18 months. Read the detailed release below: Press Release - April 19, 2021: Based on the results of over 600 experimental data runs to optimize and tune the parameters of the new…

Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, LATEST, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Prepdataindepth, IN-DEPTH, national, redistprep

Justice Department Reaches Agreement with the City of West Monroe, Louisiana Under the Voting Rights Act

By EditorApr 16, 2021

The Justice Department announced today that it has entered into a proposed consent decree to settle a voting rights lawsuit with the City of West Monroe, Louisiana. DOJ Press Release: April 15, 2021 The Justice Department’s lawsuit, brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, challenges the current at-large method of electing the West Monroe Board of Aldermen. Under this agreement, the City of West Monroe will change its method of electing its Board of Aldermen to ensure compliance with the protections of the Voting Rights Act. The proposed consent decree was filed in federal court in conjunction with…

LAW, NEWS, Race in Redistricting, Redistricting Race RulesDOJ, lawindepth, lpvra, Voting Rights Act

Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission Announces Members

By EditorApr 16, 2021

This Thursday, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced the selection of six additional members to complete a nine-member citizens redistricting commission created by Hogan in January of this year. The panel will act as an advisory commission to recommend congressional and legislative district maps to the Governor in preparation for redistricting during the 2022 legislative session. The Maryland Constitution requires the governor to submit a state legislative district map to the General Assembly on the first day of the 2022 legislative session. Traditionally, a congressional map is also submitted but it is not constitutionally required. Read the press release regarding the…

NEWS, RedistrictingMaryland, STATENEWS

16 States Join in Alabama’s Challenge to the Census Bureau’s Data Privacy Program

By EditorApr 14, 2021

On Monday, 16 states joined Alabama in deriding the U.S. Census Bureau's newly adapted data privacy policy (aka differential privacy) which uses statistical algorithms to distort raw census data before it is released to states and the public. The states who jointly filed as amici in Alabama's lawsuit against the Bureau are Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Utah. The amicus brief filed on behalf of these states lists three "major harms" caused by differential privacy. 1) local redistricting cannot be conducted with any reasonable accuracy; 2)…

Case Updates, Casedocs, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, LATEST, NEWS, RedistrictingAlabama, Alaska, arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, lawindepth, louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, STATENEWS, Texas, Utah, West Virginia

Oregon Supreme Court Establishes Revised Deadlines for Legislative Maps

By EditorApr 10, 2021

On Friday, the Oregon Supreme Court issued new deadlines for state legislative redistricting in light of the census redistricting data delay. The order extends state constitutional deadlines for legislative redistricting by three months. It does not address congressional redistricting in the state, which is governed by state statute. Read the opinion here. In its opinion and order, the court explained that the revised deadlines will enable the Legislative Assembly and the Secretary of State to fulfill their constitutional duties "without significantly affecting the rights of voters or interfering with the 2022 general election cycle." Practically speaking it observed that a…

Case Updates, Casedocs, Enacting a Redistricting Map, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigationenacting, IN-DEPTH, lpstatelaw, Oregon, policyindepth, STATENEWS

U.S. Census Bureau Releases Bulletin to Allay Fears and Explain its Testing Strategy for Differential Privacy

By EditorApr 07, 2021

This week, the U.S. Census Bureau released a bulletin that sounds a lot like it is a response to a report released by MALDEF and other civil rights groups earlier in the week. That report warns that the Bureau's application of differential privacy (DP) statistical techniques that alter census redistricting data to protect privacy, is likely to frustrate implementation of the Voting Rights Act during the redistricting process, ultimately disenfranchising minority voters. In particular, the MALDEF report claims that recent samples of 2010 census data treated with various degrees of differential privacy (DP) techniques will obfuscate the true population count…

Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, FEATURES, NEWS, Redistrictingdataindepth, differential privacy, national