Draft Census Rule Would Affect Apportionment and Block-Level Race Data

Draft Census Rule Would Affect Apportionment and Block-Level Race Data

By EditorAug 16, 20260 Comments
A draft federal rule circulating within the Trump administration would change both who the census counts for congressional apportionment and what the census is permitted to ask. The document proposes two independent regulations: one narrowing the definition of "usual residence" so that foreign citizens other than lawful permanent residents, approved asylees, and approved refugees would not be counted for apportionment, and one barring questions about race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation from the census questionnaire. It is important to note that the draft is marked predecisional, and does not purport to be final. The rule has not been published in the…
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Supreme Court Rewrites the Rules for Minority Voting Rights in Louisiana v. Callais

Supreme Court Rewrites the Rules for Minority Voting Rights in Louisiana v. Callais

By EditorMay 08, 2026
On April 29, the Supreme Court issued a landmark 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais that dramatically narrows how courts evaluate claims of racial vote dilution under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The decision, written by Justice Alito, involves Louisiana's congressional map known as "SB8," which was drawn to include a second majority-Black district after a lower court found the state's earlier map likely violated the VRA. When Louisiana complied by drawing SB8, a separate group of plaintiffs challenged it as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The Supreme Court agreed, and in doing so, it reshaped the legal…
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What Just Happened? Callais Decision Triggers Mutliple Map Redraws

What Just Happened? Callais Decision Triggers Mutliple Map Redraws

By EditorMay 07, 2026
The Supreme Court has struck down Louisiana’s 2024 congressional map in Louisiana v. Callais, ruling 6-3 that the state’s creation of a second majority-Black district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The map had been drawn after lower courts found Louisiana’s 2022 plan likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it contained only one majority-Black district in a state where Black residents make up roughly one-third of the population. But the new 2024 map prompted a separate challenge from voters who argued that Louisiana had sorted voters by race in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The Court…
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U.S. Supreme Court Makes “Surprise” Decision Striking Alabama’s Congressional Map

By EditorJun 09, 2023
On Thursday the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Alabama District Court's preliminary injunction against the state's 2021 Congressional map on grounds that it diluted the votes of Black voters in the state in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The 5-4 decision ensures that Alabama's 7 district congressional map, which included only one with a majority of Black voters - will have to be redrawn to include an additional minority Black district. African Americans make up more than a quarter of the state’s population. The decision has implications for Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas as well. It is…
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Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Results of Racial Identification for the Self-Reported Hispanic or Latino Population

Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Results of Racial Identification for the Self-Reported Hispanic or Latino Population

By EditorMar 28, 2023
News Release — Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released results showing how people who identify as being of Hispanic or Latino origin (referred to as the Hispanic population) self-reported their race in the 2020 Census. The nonresponse rate to the race question for the Hispanic population decreased from 13.0% in 2010 to 8.1% in 2020, but there were major shifts in race reporting within the Hispanic population compared to the 2010 Census. The data show that the Hispanic population reporting one race decreased from over 81.6% in 2010 to less than 57.8% in 2020. Meanwhile, over one-third of the Hispanic population reported two or…
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Study: Partisan and Racial Representation Outcomes in the 2020 Redistricting Cycle

Study: Partisan and Racial Representation Outcomes in the 2020 Redistricting Cycle

By EditorOct 10, 2022
A recent article published in Publius: The Journal of Federalism, explores and measures partisan fairness, competitiveness, and minority representation in newly enacted redistricting maps across the states. A summary of the results is below. Read the article here. Christopher Warshaw (George Wash. Univ.), Eric McGhee, (Public Policy Institute of California) and Michal Migurski (Planscore.org, USA) are coauthors of this study and they describe their findings with this statement in their abstract: "We find that both parties have enacted increasingly extreme partisan gerrymanders when they control the redistricting process. The combination of Republicans’ control of the redistricting process in far more…
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U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio and Analysis of Pivotal Alabama Voting Rights Act Case

U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio and Analysis of Pivotal Alabama Voting Rights Act Case

By EditorOct 08, 2022
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan regarding Alabama Congressional Redistricting. Listen to the Oral Argument on YouTube. Last January, a three-judge district court in Alabama had agreed that the state’s new congressional map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A divided Supreme Court temporarily blocked that ruling in February and after nearly two hours of oral argument on Tuesday, the justices appeared inclined to permanently set aside the district court’s ruling according to Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog. The crux of the state of Alabama's argument is that the…
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A Flurry of Redistricting Activity Happened Over the Holidays. Here is a Recap

A Flurry of Redistricting Activity Happened Over the Holidays. Here is a Recap

By EditorJan 03, 2022
An incredible amount of redistricting activity occurred over the holidays in over 10 states. It's safe to say you missed most of it. Here is your post-holiday update. Map Adoptions 5 states adopted/enacted redistricting maps just before or after the Christmas holiday. This includes 3 independent citizens commissions, 1 state supreme court, and 1 enactment via a governor's signature. Arizona The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission adopted final congressional and state legislative maps on Dec. 22. The 5 member body voted unanimously for the congressional district map and approved the state legislative map on a 3-2 vote.  Click here for interactive maps and media coverage,…
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Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Discusses New DOJ Voting Rights Act Guidance at NCSL Summit

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Discusses New DOJ Voting Rights Act Guidance at NCSL Summit

By EditorNov 13, 2021
Last week, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke spoke at NCSL’s Summit in Tampa regarding the Department of Justice’s guidance on how the Civil Rights Division is approaching Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and their enforcement work this redistricting cycle. Section 2 prohibits discrimination in voting on the basis of race, color, or membership in a language minority group. The division looks at plans regardless of whether those plans were adopted by legislative bodies, redistricting commissions, state courts, or other governmental bodies. Watch below. https://www.facebook.com/NCSLorg/videos/1480510388995770/ Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke remarks at NCSL’s Legislative Summit. (Nov. 2021)
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Census Bureau Delivers 2020 Census Redistricting Data in Easier-to-Use Format

Census Bureau Delivers 2020 Census Redistricting Data in Easier-to-Use Format

By EditorSep 16, 2021
SEPT. 16, 2021 — The U.S. Census Bureau today released the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File to states and the public in an easier-to-use format.    These data are now available on data.census.gov. They are identical to those released Aug. 12 on the Census Bureau’s FTP site and in various data visualizations.   The Census Bureau has also delivered to states an easy-to-use toolkit of DVDs and flash drives with integrated browsing software to use in redrawing their congressional and state legislative district boundaries. Topics in both formats include 2020 Census population counts by race, Hispanic origin, voting age and housing unit data for counties, places, census tracts and blocks.…
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