The 2030 LUCA Schedule: Key Dates for Tribal, State, and Local Governments

The 2030 LUCA Schedule: Key Dates for Tribal, State, and Local Governments

By EditorJul 21, 20260 Comments
The Census Bureau has published a schedule for the 2030 Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA), the process by which tribal, state, and local governments review and comment on the Census Address List for their jurisdictions before the 2030 Census. The Bureau relies on a complete and accurate address list to reach every living quarter and its associated population for inclusion in the decennial census, and LUCA is the mechanism that brings local review into that list. A review begins with a government comparing the Census Bureau's Address Count Listing File for its area (also called a block count list),…
Census Data and Geography, Local Redistricting, ,
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The BBSP Deadline Passed. Now What? A Guide for Local Officials

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

By EditorJul 18, 20260 Comments
The Census Bureau's May 29, 2026, deadline for Block Boundary Suggestion Project submissions has come and gone. For local officials and GIS staff who were unaware of the program, were understaffed, or simply unable to get their state liaison engaged in time, the question now is a practical one: what can still be done, and how do you ensure the 2030 redistricting cycle goes as smoothly as possible from here? The answer is more encouraging than you might expect, but it requires moving quickly and strategically on several fronts. There is still one more BBSP opportunity, but only briefly The Census…
DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Local Redistricting, , ,
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The Boundary Annexation Survey (BAS) Submission Checklist for Local Governments

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

By EditorJul 14, 20260 Comments
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…
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A Prep Checklist for Election Offices Before the Census Bureau’s 2028 Voting District Project Begins

A Prep Checklist for Election Offices Before the Census Bureau’s 2028 Voting District Project Begins

By EditorJul 10, 20260 Comments
The U.S. Census Bureau's Voting District Project (VTDP) will provide state liaisons the opportunity to submit and verify their local voting districts (a generic term used to represent areas that administer elections, such as precincts, election districts, and wards) to the Bureau for inclusion in the 2030 Census Redistricting Data products (tabulated data and geographic products). Local election and GIS offices do not submit voting districts directly to the Census Bureau, but may do so through the state liaison or a designated technical liaison. The quality of what their state submits in the VTDP depends on the groundwork laid by…
Local Redistricting, ,
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Official vs. Technical Liaisons: Who Can Actually Submit in the Voting District Project

Official vs. Technical Liaisons: Who Can Actually Submit in the Voting District Project

By EditorJun 24, 20260 Comments
The Census Bureau runs the Redistricting Data Program through a single official nonpartisan liaison in each state, jointly identified by the governor and the legislative leaders responsible for redistricting. That liaison manages the geographic updates submitted in each phase and reviews and approves them before the Bureau loads them into its MAF/TIGER database. Program submissions are accepted only from the official liaison, but that does not exclude local expertise from the process. The official liaison may designate technical liaisons - for example, county GIS staff - who can perform geographic updates and submit completed work to the Census Bureau on…
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Are your Precincts “Actual” or “Pseudo”? What Local Officials Should Know about the Census Bureau’s Voting District Program

Are your Precincts “Actual” or “Pseudo”? What Local Officials Should Know about the Census Bureau’s Voting District Program

By EditorJun 19, 2026
The Census Bureau tabulates population by census geography ( ie., census blocks, tracts, counties), not by the precincts and wards that election offices actually run. Without a way to bridge that gap, states would receive decennial population counts that could not be readily matched to their own election geography. The Voting District Project (VTDP) is that bridge: once each decade, as Phase 2 of the Redistricting Data Program, the Census Bureau invites each state to submit its voting districts - its generic term for precincts, election districts, and wards - so that population data can be tabulated for those areas…
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BBSP vs. BAS: Two Census Programs, Two Crucial Jobs

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…
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Why the 2030 Census LUCA Program Matters to Redistricting and GIS Staff

Why the 2030 Census LUCA Program Matters to Redistricting and GIS Staff

By EditorMay 16, 2026
Most redistricting discussions focus on the maps, who draws them, what criteria they must meet, and how they will hold up in court. But every redistricting map built from 2030 Census data will ultimately rest on a foundation that GIS and redistricting staff rarely talk about: the Census Bureau's residential address list. The Local Update of Census Addresses operation is the first to occur in every decennial census cycle, and it gives state, tribal, and local governments their only opportunity to directly help ensure an accurate enumeration by reviewing and submitting updates or corrections to the confidential address list before…
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What Is a Shapefile and Why Do You Need One for Redistricting?

What Is a Shapefile and Why Do You Need One for Redistricting?

By EditorMay 14, 2026
If you have spent any time around redistricting software or GIS professionals, you have probably heard the term "shapefile" and possibly nodded along without knowing what it means. A shapefile is a digital file format that stores the geographic boundaries of a defined area as a map layer. Think of it as the outline of a jurisdiction, your city limits, your county boundaries, your voting precincts, your census tracts, all saved in a format that mapping software can read, display, and analyze. TIGER boundary files are shapefiles from the Census Bureau that are important for drawing legally compliant district maps.…
Census Data and Geography
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Why the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) Matters for Local Redistricting Officials

Why the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS) Matters for Local Redistricting Officials

By EditorDec 15, 2025
Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau invites tribal, state, and general-purpose local governments, counties, cities, towns, and minor civil divisions to verify that its legal-boundary file is still accurate. This verification program is the Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS). For local officials, keeping your boundaries current is not just cartographic housekeeping. BAS data feeds the American Community Survey, the Population Estimates Program, and the TIGER/Line layers that nearly all redistricting platforms rely on. Accurate boundary lines also protect your jurisdiction’s share of the roughly $2.8 trillion in annual federal funds that are allocated by geography. Who should participate and what’s…
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