Maryland Governor Creates Citizens Redistricting Commission

Maryland Governor Creates Citizens Redistricting Commission

Gov. Larry Hogan announced that he would establish The Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission to redraw the state's congressional and state legislative boundaries. The application period for members of the public to apply to be on the commission is now open. The commission will consist of 3 members appointed by the governor and 6 members of the public who are selected by the initial three after applying through the application process. The governor's appointees are Judge Alexander Williams (democrat), Walter Olsen (Republican), and Dr. Kathleen Hetherington (Independent). Williams is a retired Judge of the United States District Court for the District…
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Watch: The New Virginia Redistricting Commission Conducts its First Full Meeting

Watch: The New Virginia Redistricting Commission Conducts its First Full Meeting

The brand new 2021 Virginia Redistricting Commission is up and running. This is new for the state, so all eyes will be on the 16-member commission as redistricting looms. You can watch the meetings here on RedistrictingOnline. Watch commission meetings via Redistrictingonline's Youtube playlist or the Virginia state info page to keep up to date on the commission and redistricting in Virginia in general. The commission is made up of eight citizen members and eight members of the state General Assembly. The commission held its first meeting as a full commission on January 21. There will lots for the commissioners…
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Census Bureau Announces Revised Data Release Schedule But Stops Short on Firm Date for Redistricting Data

Census Bureau Announces Revised Data Release Schedule But Stops Short on Firm Date for Redistricting Data

The target date for apportionment data is April 30 2021. Bureau officials say a date for the release of redistricting data for the states is forthcoming, but they are certain that date will not be before July 30. A Census Bureau official made these detailed remarks on Wed, Jan. 27 to a group of legislators and staff on a conference/video call organized by the National Conference of State Legislatures. In the past, processing and preparation of apportionment and redistricting data was accomplished in a parallel process. This decade, the Bureau made the decision to focus entirely on producing the apportionment…
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Apportionment Numbers Delayed Until March

Apportionment Numbers Delayed Until March

"Uncertainty over the timing of congressional apportionment increased Monday, as government lawyers told a federal judge the Census Bureau's new internal target date for finalizing state population counts is March 6." (Wash. Post) The remarks were made in a case management hearing for a lawsuit against the administration in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Read the Post article here.
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U.S. Supreme Court Decides Not to Decide Illegal Immigrant Apportionment Case

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that the White House request to the Census Bureau to modify the population count to exclude undocumented immigrants was not ripe. The per curiam opinion explained that it was premature to resolve the issue of whether the order was constitutional since there were no apportionment numbers available at the time of the oral argument and there was no certainty how the Bureau would implement the memorandum. The wording of the memorandum ordering the Census Bureau to modify the population count gave considerable latitude to officials regarding how and to what extent it would…
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Listen: Supreme Court Oral Argument in Trump Apportionment / Citizenship Case

On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Trump v. New York. This case challenged an executive memo directing the Census Bureau to report official congressional apportionment data so that it excludes the count of non-citizens. For an in-depth analysis of the arguments, read SCOTUSBlog.com's report. Most expert observers say the court seemed preoccupied with the "ripeness" of the issue, or in layman's parlance - whether or not the administration has done anything yet that could possibly violate a statute or the constitution. Listen to the audio below. https://youtu.be/ePChyVCpI6A
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Census Bureau Director Says “Processing Anomalies” will Delay Census Data Release Schedule

Census Bureau Director Says “Processing Anomalies” will Delay Census Data Release Schedule

On November 19th the Director of the U.S. Census Bureau released a short statement acknowledging "certain processing anomalies" in the decennial census data collected earlier this year. While the director did point out that "processing anomalies" have been encountered in previous censuses, no further detail was given to put the current anomalies in context. According to the New York Times, the new deadline for delivering congressional apportionment data to the president is on or about January 26. The statutory deadline is Dec. 31. Just what is a "processing anomaly"? An answer is difficult to come by from the Bureau, but…
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Commission Meeting Video: CA Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission

Commission Meeting Video: CA Citizens Independent Redistricting Commission

The 14-member California Citizens Redistricting Commission was established in 2008 by a citizen's initiative. It is responsible for redrawing the state's congressional, legislative, and Board of Equalization districts (BOE). Watch commission meetings here. Commission Selection Process: The commission includes 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 members who are unaffiliated with any party. The selection process is coordinated by the State Auditors Office and involves, background screening and an applicant review panel, which selects the most qualified applicants. The legislative leaders may reduce the Auditor's pool of qualified applicants before the State Auditor randomly selects 8 candidates from the remaining pool.…
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Commission Meeting Video: Santa Barbara County Citizens Independent Redistricting Comm.

Commission Meeting Video: Santa Barbara County Citizens Independent Redistricting Comm.

The County's Independent Redistricting Commission consists of 11 county residents who are not elected officials, city staff, lobbyists, candidates, campaign donors, or their close family members. Consideration is also given to the goal of having a commission that reflects the diversity of Santa Barbara County. The commission must provide an open and transparent process that enables full public consideration and comment on the drawing of district lines. View the commission meetings here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu3FTBN0w-M&list=PL8SyQGix1i-UwlM5AyuSBomdr6e1B9nVT Resources Commission website California Redistricting Info California Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission Meeting Video California Local Redistricting News
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CA Federal Court Panel Invalidates Presidential Order to Exclude “Illegal Aliens” from Apportionment Count

On Thursday (Oct. 22) a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose Division) issued a final order and opinion invalidating the president's July memorandum that ordered census apportionment numbers exclude undocumented immigrants. A copy of the opinion is here. A federal district court in New York was the first to invalidate the July memorandum in September. That case has been scheduled for oral argument before the Supreme Court on November 30th. The San Jose court declared the presidential memorandum a "violation of the Apportionment and Enumeration Clauses of Article I, Section 2…
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