Delay in data scrambles plans for state redistricting

Stymied by delayed census data needed for redistricting, some states are considering postponing their 2022 primaries or turning to other population estimates to start the oncea-decade task of redrawing voting districts used for U.S. House and state legislative elections.

The U.S. Census Bureau was supposed to provide redistricting data to the states by March 31, but after setbacks from the pandemic, it won’t be ready until mid- to late August and might not be available in an easy-to-use format until Sept. 30. That’s later than the legal deadlines to complete redistricting in some states and could mean less time for court challenges, candidate filing and ballot creation.

The delay has sent states scrambling to adapt. Some face the decision to sidestep their constitutional deadlines or draw stopgap maps that might not fully reflect population shifts in the past decade.

“States that have done the exact same thing for decades in a row now have to look for alternatives,” said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In many states, redistricting is done by lawmakers subject to a gubernatorial veto. A growing number will use independent or bipartisan commissions, but Republicans will have ultimate control over redistricting in more than twice as many states as Democrats.

Political control allows officials to draw districts that make it easier for their candidates to win future elections — something Republicans did more effectively than Democrats after the 2010 census.

Although the census is typically used for redistricting, only about half the states have laws or constitutional provisions explicitly requiring them to use census data, according to the NCSL.

Lawsuits over redistricting are a near certainty in many states as political parties angle to get preferential maps. A decade ago, courts twice delayed the Texas primaries because of legal challenges to the maps drawn by the Republicanled Legislature.

Candidate filing for Texas’ March 1 primary is scheduled to run from midNovember to mid-December. But Republican Rep. Phil King is sponsoring legislation that would allow the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker to agree to delay the primaries to July 1.

The California Supreme Court already has pushed back the deadline for the state’s redistricting commission to finalize new maps from Aug. 15 to Dec.

15. But that was on the assumption census data would be available by July

31. For every day the data is delayed beyond that, the court has automatically extended the deadline by an equal amount. That means it could bump up against California’s mid-February deadline for candidates to submit petitions for the 2022 primaries.