PlanScore Announces Online Redistricting App for Measuring Partisan Bias

PlanScore Announces Online Redistricting App for Measuring Partisan Bias

By EditorMar 07, 2021
As the push for more transparency and less partisanship in redistricting intensifies, PlanScore aims to be "a trusted, non-partisan resource for the redistricting efforts to come in the 2020 cycle." The nonprofit organization formed by top legal, academic, and technical experts in the field, will do this by offering an online diagnostic tool for redistricting maps. The Online App The online service will assist legislative staff and the general public by allowing any geographic file uploaded by site visitors to be checked for its partisan, demographic, racial, and geometric features. The analysis gives plan-wide scores for several statistical measures that…
DATA and TECHNOLOGY, FEATURES, NEWS, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, , ,
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Listen: Census Bureau Official and NCSL Director Discuss Redistricting Data Quality and Delays

Listen: Census Bureau Official and NCSL Director Discuss Redistricting Data Quality and Delays

By EditorMar 07, 2021
In this "Our American States" podcast hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) James Whitehorne, chief of the Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office at U.S. Census Bureau, and Wendy Underhill, who oversees the Elections and Redistricting Program at NCSL discuss how the pandemic affected the bureau’s ability to collect data, and how states are responding to the six-month delay for redistricting data. Podcast https://redistrictingonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/OAS_Episode_124.mp3 For more podcasts visit the Our American States Podcast Page at NCSL.org
Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, FEATURES, LATEST, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Prep, , , , , , ,
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Amendments to H.R. 1 Take Congressional Map-Drawing Out of the Hands of State Legislatures in 2021

Amendments to H.R. 1 Take Congressional Map-Drawing Out of the Hands of State Legislatures in 2021

By EditorMar 03, 2021
In mid-February, we reported about potential sweeping reforms of the congressional redistricting process in the states proposed by Congress. The bill (H.R. 1) would have been effective in 2030 but newly added amendments on Monday, make it a requirement for states this year. Yes. This year. The amended H.R.1 requires states to either create an agency to establish a commission or designate an existing one to carry out a detailed commissioner selection process. The procedural requirements are substantial and maps created by the commission must meet various rigorous statistical measures to avoid partisan gerrymandering. A vote is scheduled on the…
LATEST, Redistricting Commissions, Redistricting Criteria, REFORM, , , ,
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Listen: Supreme Court Oral Argument in Brnovich Voting Rights Act (sec. 2) Case

Listen: Supreme Court Oral Argument in Brnovich Voting Rights Act (sec. 2) Case

By EditorMar 03, 2021
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, a lawsuit challenging Arizona's out-of-precinct policy on Election Day, which does not count provisional ballots cast in person that were cast outside of the voter’s designated precinct and its ballot-collection law, which permits only certain persons to handle another person’s completed early ballot. The lawsuit contends these laws violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. While redistricting maps are often challenged for minority vote dilution under Section 2 of the Act, this case involves claims of vote denial as opposed to vote dilution and centers around…
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February Redistricting Update

February Redistricting Update

By EditorMar 02, 2021
A recap of developments in redistricting for the last month. If you weren't paying attention, you likely missed a lot of activity in the redistricting realm this February. The biggest news is the first two redistricting lawsuits have been filed in courts even before any line-drawing has begun. Read on for this and other developments from the Census Bureau, California's redistricting commission, and congress. Litigation States have made the preparations to begin the redistricting process but there is no census data available yet to start the task. At least two states are not taking this laying down and have filed…
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Ohio Fires First Salvo in Court Over Delayed Census Redistricting Data

By EditorMar 01, 2021
On Thursday, Ohio became the first state to sue the U.S. Census Bureau over late redistricting data. After the Bureau announced it would delay the release of the data on the statutory deadline of March 31, postponing release to Sept 30, the Ohio Attorney General filed suit in federal district court to request data delivery for Ohio either on the statutory date or on the earliest date possible. The complaint challenges the decision of the Census Bureau to delay data delivery to the States due to processing delays caused by Covid-19 and its focus on delivering apportionment data to the…
Case Updates, Casedocs, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, , , ,
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Minnesota Lawsuit Asks Court to Get a Jump on State Redistricting

By EditorMar 01, 2021
The delayed census redistricting data delivery schedule has put many states in a bind as they run up against state constitutional and statutory deadlines for redistricting. In Minnesota, the deadline for drawing a congressional map is in February of 2022, but the state has a decades-long history of not accomplishing the task. A new lawsuit filed in state court seeks to get ahead of the problem. According to the lawsuit filed on the 19th, the situation is dire. Population projections indicate that the state may lose a congressional seat in the upcoming apportionment scheduled to be released later this Spring.…
Case Updates, Casedocs, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Equal Population, Redistricting Litigation, , ,
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Illinois Becomes the 10th State to Count Prisoners at Home for Redistricting

Illinois Becomes the 10th State to Count Prisoners at Home for Redistricting

By EditorFeb 25, 2021
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law on Tuesday a measure that would require state prisoners to be counted at their home address for redistricting beginning in 2030. Illinois joins nine other states with similar provisions, they are California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, and Washington State. The process of counting prisoners at home versus the prison is "prisoner reallocation." Read the Prison Policy Initatives' press release below. For immediate release — On Tuesday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed an omnibus criminal justice package that (among several victories) makes Illinois the tenth state to end prison…
NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Prisoners, REFORM, , , , ,
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California Redistricting Commission Parts with Executive Director

California Redistricting Commission Parts with Executive Director

By EditorFeb 23, 2021
In a Feb. 18 press release, the Commission advised that it had accepted Executive Director Daniel Claypool's, resignation after a closed meeting on the 16th. No further details were given on the reason for Claypool's departure, but the portion of the meeting on the 16th that was publicly aired included a rather lengthy and robust discussion about the commission's outreach budget. You can view the meeting below. The discussion begins at 3:42. https://youtu.be/4qAAb9NW6sk Here is the relevant text of the press release: 2020 California Citizens Redistricting CommissionAccepts Resignation of Executive Director SACRAMENTO, CA—Today, the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission (Commission)…
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Redistricting Commissions are Now in a Majority of States

Redistricting Commissions are Now in a Majority of States

By EditorFeb 22, 2021
In case you missed it, as of this January when Maryland’s Governor announced the creation of an advisory redistricting commission, 26 states now have some form of a redistricting commission. Other recent additions include Ohio and Virginia. Commissions with Power to Enact a Map These commissions have the initial (and sometimes ultimate authority) to enact a redistricting map for a state. This includes “citizen” or “independent” commissions, in addition to appointed or hybrid commissions. AlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoHawaiiIdahoMichiganMissouriMontanaNew JerseyOhioPennsylvaniaWashingtonSome but not all of these commissions listed have authority over “both” congressional and legislative maps. Advisory or Backup Commissions Advisory commissions go through the…
Official Redistricting Entities, Redistricting, Redistricting Commissions, , ,
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