Census 2020 Starts Now!

Census 2020 Starts Now!

By EditorFeb 04, 2015
It seems as though census 2010 was just yesterday but with the New Year, the 2020 census timeline is upon us; the official Census Bureau 2020 Census Redistricting Data Program begins later this year. The program’s five phase process leads up to and dictates the operational schedule for delivering crucial population data that states use for redistricting. Here is a quick summary of those phases: Block Boundary Suggestion Project Beginning in the second half of 2015, participating states will appoint liaisons that will receive suggestions from state and local officials on how census block geography should look in their jurisdictions.…
Redistricting, Strategy and Politics
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Language Minority Provisions of the Voting Right Act

Language Minority Provisions of the Voting Right Act

By EditorFeb 04, 2015
The U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse. Many regions have significant populations for which English is not their first language, to address this the Voting Rights Act was amended to include the minority language provisions of section 203. Section 203 of the VRA requires registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or information relating to the electoral process, including ballots, to be provided in the language of an applicable minority in jurisdiction where: citizens of voting age in a single language group within the jurisdiction: Is more than 10,000, or Is more than five percent of all…
Redistricting, Redistricting Race Rules, ,
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Santa Fe Looking for a Few Good Geographers

Santa Fe Looking for a Few Good Geographers

By EditorJan 19, 2015
The City of Santa Fe, New Mexico is looking for citizens to fill the seven spots on its Citizens' Redistricting Commission. The body will be in charge of redrawing Santa Fe's city council districts. The city is looking for a geographer or cartographer to sit on the commission to help with the challenge of redrawing political boundaries after a recent annexation. Read local coverage here.
Redistricting Commissions, Strategy and Politics,
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Listen: Supreme Court Oral Argument in Alabama Racial Gerrymander Case

Listen: Supreme Court Oral Argument in Alabama Racial Gerrymander Case

By EditorDec 08, 2014
  Listen to the Supreme Court's oral arguments in the consolidated cases; Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and  Alabama Democratic Conference v. Alabama. Democratic lawmakers in the Alabama legislature claim the Republican-led legislature packed Black voters into state legislative districts to dilute their voting power resulting in an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The court heard oral arguments on November 12th 2014.    
Equal Protection, LAW, NEWS, POLICY and PRACTICE, Race in Redistricting, Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race Rules, ,
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Supreme Court Will Decide Whether Alabama Gerrymander is a Racial or Partisan One.

By EditorDec 08, 2014
NPR previews Ala. Legis. Black Caucus v. Alabama; a claim alleging that the Alabama state legislature's 2010 legislative redistricting map is a racial gerrymander. Alabama says the Voting Rights Act made them create the map. Listen below. http://www.npr.org/v2/?i=363375057&m=363458938&t=audio  
Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race Rules,
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One Year After Shelby, Growing Focus Toward Local Elections

One Year After Shelby, Growing Focus Toward Local Elections

By EditorJul 30, 2014
Since the Supreme Court invalidated the Department of Justices’ authority to enforce the preclearance requirements of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, voting rights organizations including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) insist a deluge of local election activity designed to disenfranchise African-American voters and political candidates will ensue. It has been just over one year since the Shelby decision, in which the court deemed the coverage formula for the act’s preclearance provision unconstitutionally outdated. In this election year, the question now becomes appropriate; Deluge or not? A quick check of the national headlines for the past year or…
Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race Rules
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Video: Senate Committee Ponders Life After Shelby and the VRAA

By EditorJul 21, 2014
July 21, 2014 Lately, the voting rights world has made the sharp distinction between voting rights before the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby v. Holder dismantling section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, and after. It’s a distinction second perhaps only to B.C. and A.D., and for good reason. Those who applaud the Supreme court’s decision are relieved that the Justice Dept’s overly racialized paranoia about the smallest election decisions of state and local jurisdictions will cease and the federal governments’ tight grip on state sovereignty loosened. On the other hand, opponents of the decision rile at the blank check…
Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation
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2020 Vision : A Noteworthy Prediction for Redistricting in the Next Cycle

2020 Vision : A Noteworthy Prediction for Redistricting in the Next Cycle

By EditorJan 31, 2014
We are just three years into the decade long redistricting cycle that began with the 2010 census. It is a cycle that begins with sorting through winners and losers of the apportionment lottery as some states gain seats while others lose. Next, politics reigns supreme as states redraw political boundaries and proceed with the delicate task of drawing a map that can pass muster both legally and politically. The third phase, which lasts most of the decade, consists of meticulous judicial examination of maps and perhaps usable precedent, just in time for the next round. RealClearPolitics’ Senior elections analyst Sean…
Redistricting, Redistricting Race Rules, Strategy and Politics,
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