How the Census Bureau and NCSL Modernized America’s Redistricting System

How the Census Bureau and NCSL Modernized America’s Redistricting System

By EditorOct 07, 2025
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) offers an engaging look at how its decades-long partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau reshaped the way America draws political boundaries. The article, “How NCSL and the Census Bureau Modernized Redistricting,” traces the evolution of that collaboration back to the 1970s, when the chaotic patchwork of state redistricting practices prompted Congress to pass Public Law 94-171. The law required the Census Bureau to deliver population data tailored to state district maps within a year of each census, laying the foundation for the precise, data-driven redistricting process used today. Through behind-the-scenes negotiations and technical…
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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)
LATEST, NEWS, Redistricting, , ,
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Listen: Census Bureau Official and NCSL Director Discuss Redistricting Data Quality and Delays

Listen: Census Bureau Official and NCSL Director Discuss Redistricting Data Quality and Delays

By EditorMar 07, 2021
In this "Our American States" podcast hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) James Whitehorne, chief of the Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office at U.S. Census Bureau, and Wendy Underhill, who oversees the Elections and Redistricting Program at NCSL discuss how the pandemic affected the bureau’s ability to collect data, and how states are responding to the six-month delay for redistricting data. Podcast https://redistrictingonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/OAS_Episode_124.mp3 For more podcasts visit the Our American States Podcast Page at NCSL.org
Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, FEATURES, LATEST, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Prep, , , , , , ,
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Listen to the NCSL Webinar on Recent Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decisions

Listen to the NCSL Webinar on Recent Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decisions

By EditorJul 24, 2018
Last week the National Conference of State Legislatures hosted this webinar on the recent Supreme Court Partisan Gerrymandering decisions.  You can watch/listen below.  The discussion gives good insight into the current posture of the litigation in Wisconsin and Maryland and other states.  (more…)
FEATURES, LAW, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Prep, , , , , ,
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