The National Urban League (et al.) Agreed to Settle its Lawsuit Seeking to Slowdown the Census Work Plan. Here are the Details of the Agreement.

On Thursday, the federal district court overseeing litigation challenging the U.S. Census Bureau's handling of 2020 Census data collection and post-processing, issued an order to dismiss the case with detailed stipulations for all parties involved. The lead plaintiff, The National Urban League and various other entities In National Urban League v. Raimondo have agreed to cease litigation in return for regular and robust assurances that 2020 Census data will be processed carefully and accurately. Below is a summary of the stipulations and selected quotes from the court's order. " . . .the parties agree that rather than continuing to dispute…
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Federal District Court Issues Dismissal of Census Bureau Lawsuit with Detailed Stipulations for Both Parties

The U.S. Census Bureau has reached an agreement with the various plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit seeking to ensure census data accuracy by asking the court to enforce extended timelines for processing 2020 census data. The lawsuit was originally filed to enjoin the bureau from ending its counting operations one month before its previously scheduled deadline of October 31, 2020. Further requests by plaintiffs sought to block the bureau from attempting to modify apportionment data to only include citizens and ensure that data accuracy did not suffer as the bureau sought to meet statutory deadlines for reporting data earlier in…
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Interactive Historical Apportionment Map Released by U.S. Census Bureau

Interactive Historical Apportionment Map Released by U.S. Census Bureau

You can now view the results of every apportionment since 1910 in this new interactive map from the U.S. Census Bureau. The map displays the change in the number of U.S. House seats for each state in each decade, the percent change in population, and population density for each state. U.S. Census Bureau March 22, 2021: Interactive Apportionment Map Now Available The U.S. Census Bureau launched a new online map today ahead of the 2020 Census apportionment results release. The “Historical Apportionment Data Map” currently displays apportionment results for each census from 1910 to 2010. 2020 Census apportionment results will…
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Census Bureau Director’s Blog Post: “Anomalies” in Data are Not as Scary as they Sound

Census Bureau Director’s Blog Post: “Anomalies” in Data are Not as Scary as they Sound

Michael Thieme, Assistant Director for Decennial Census Programs discusses the back-office processing of census data "anomalies" and what that really means. The article, by Thieme's admission, is meant to address the confusion surrounding the term and explain that anomalies are "a signal that the quality checks on the census are working." He gives a detailed and informative look at just what anomalies really are and how the Census Bureau addresses them, including the various categories of anomalies. Thieme also assures readers that "we have not found any anomalies that are impossible to fix." Read the blog entry here.
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Watch: Census Bureau Briefs States On Redistricting Data Delivery Delay

Watch: Census Bureau Briefs States On Redistricting Data Delivery Delay

Watch this virtual briefing by the bureau last week on what exactly is taking so long with the redistricting data that states need to complete maps. Redistricting data will be delayed at least six months until Sep. 30. James Whitehorne, Chief of the Census Redistricting & Voting Rights Data Office at the Census Bureau, briefed state officials during this meeting hosted by the National Conference of State Legislatures. The meeting begins with a short update on the status of H.R. 1, a sweeping election reform bill currently moving through Congress that would impose dramatic structural changes to the congressional 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

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
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Ohio Fires First Salvo in Court Over Delayed Census Redistricting Data

On Thursday, Ohio became the first state to sue the U.S. Census Bureau over late redistricting data. After the Bureau announced it would delay the release of the data on the statutory deadline of March 31, postponing release to Sept 30, the Ohio Attorney General filed suit in federal district court to request data delivery for Ohio either on the statutory date or on the earliest date possible. The complaint challenges the decision of the Census Bureau to delay data delivery to the States due to processing delays caused by Covid-19 and its focus on delivering apportionment data to the…
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The Census Bureau Sets a Target Date for Long-awaited Redistricting Data Delivery to the States

The Census Bureau Sets a Target Date for Long-awaited Redistricting Data Delivery to the States

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today the target date for delivering redistricting data to the states; the final component needed to redraw congressional and legislative lines. The relevant excerpts from the bureau's official blog are below. The press release is here. James Whitehorne, Chief of the Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office, U.S. Census Bureau: If this were a typical decade, we would be on the verge of delivering the first round of redistricting data from the 2020 Census. Our original plan was to deliver the data in state groupings starting Feb. 18, 2021 and finishing by March 31, 2021.  …
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What’s New About  Redistricting in 2020? – It’s Going To Start Late

What’s New About Redistricting in 2020? – It’s Going To Start Late

Really late. The pre-Covid decades were very much predictable in terms of census data releases. The apportionment data, pursuant to statute, would be delivered to the President and Congress by Dec. 31, and redistricting was delivered to the states on a rolling basis throughout March. States with early primaries in that year would get their data first. By April 1 every state would have all of the data needed to begin the redistricting process. This decade, the census data timeline has been delayed and is riddled with uncertainty. The apportionment data was promised by the Census Bureau in January, then…
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Special Citizens Voting-Age Population Tabulation Canceled by Census Bureau

Special Citizens Voting-Age Population Tabulation Canceled by Census Bureau

While the big news from the Census Bureau regarding the delayed apportionment and redistricting data has dominated the headlines as of late, the bureau also announced that it would be discontinuing its efforts to create a post-2020 “special tabulation” of the citizen voting-age population (CVAP). This special tab would have been a detailed estimate of the citizen voting-age population nationwide. Here is what you need to know about this development. A CVAP Special Tab is already Produced Annually by the Bureau. The special tab that was discontinued by the bureau recently is not the annual CVAP tab that it has…
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