From 1990 to 2030: A Short History of the Census Block-Boundary Suggestion Project

From 1990 to 2030: A Short History of the Census Block-Boundary Suggestion Project

By EditorMay 22, 2026
The Block Boundary Suggestion Project (BBSP) is now in its fourth decade. It began as part of the Census Bureau's first nationwide Redistricting Data Program for the 1990 Census, following a 1984 pilot test that yielded positive results, which led to its full implementation. While census blocks were first used in 1940, only for cities of 50,000 or more inhabitants and other governments that contracted for the work, they were first used nationwide in 1990. Along with the nationwide census block-numbering system, which gave states the small-area geography they needed to meet Voting Rights Act obligations and minimal-population-deviation districting standards, BBSP helped move redistricting…
DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Local Redistricting, , ,
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Five Census Bureau Tools Every Local Election Official Should Bookmark

Five Census Bureau Tools Every Local Election Official Should Bookmark

By EditorMay 15, 2026
The Census Bureau offers a growing suite of free, browser-based tools that are directly useful for local election administration and redistricting work, and most officials don't know they exist. All five tools are free, require no account or login, and are updated regularly with the latest ACS and decennial census data. QuickFacts: The first stop for any local official should be QuickFacts, which delivers instant demographic snapshots; population, age, race, income, housing, etc., for any county, city, or town in the country with no data expertise required. TigerWeb: Next is TIGERweb, the Census Bureau's interactive boundary map viewer. TIGERweb allows users to…
Census Data and Geography,
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What Local Officials Need to Know about the Recent U.S. Supreme Court Voting Rights Act Decision

What Local Officials Need to Know about the Recent U.S. Supreme Court Voting Rights Act Decision

By EditorMay 15, 2026
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is the federal law that has most directly shaped how local governments draw their district maps and structure their elections. It is a permanent, nationwide prohibition on any voting standard, practice, or procedure that results in the denial or abridgment of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group. The Act applies to every level of government, including county commissions, city councils, school boards, and judicial districts. In practice, the law has been most often invoked at the local level.…
Redistricting, Voting Rights Act
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An Overview of Local Redistricting

An Overview of Local Redistricting

By EditorJun 29, 2025
The local redistricting process, where counties, cities, school boards, and special districts redraw their geographic boundaries, shares many of the same legal and procedural frameworks as state‐level redistricting but operates at a far more granular scale. Below is an in‐depth look at how local redistricting unfolds, key hurdles jurisdictions face, proven best practices, a general timeline, and how these local efforts differ from statewide map‐drawing. Overview of Local Redistricting Any elected body based on districts, such as county boards, city councils, school boards, utility districts, even some judicial and special‐purpose bodies, must periodically redraw lines so that each district remains…
Local Redistricting,
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Study: Census Bureau’s Differential Privacy Disclosure Avoidance System Produces Concerning Results for Local Jurisdictions

Study: Census Bureau’s Differential Privacy Disclosure Avoidance System Produces Concerning Results for Local Jurisdictions

By EditorMar 31, 2021
Recent research into the effect of differential privacy (DP) on Alaska's census data show concerning results, especially for small area geographies such as townships, municipalities and other local jurisdictions. The authors of the study, a summary of which is posted in the blog for the Population Association of America, warn that local redistricting and other activities connected to census data could be substantially impacted by the Census Bureau's application of differential privacy on raw census data. The authors of the study, David Swanson, Professor Emeritus, Sociology at the University of California - Riverside, T.M. Bryan of Bryan Demographic Research, Richmond,…
Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Local Redistricting, NEWS, Redistricting, , ,
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