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1 Yurij Rudensky, et al., The Impact of Census Timeline Changes on the next Round of Redistricting 1 (2021)

handle is hein.brennan/bcimcentmlch0001 and id is 1 raw text is: The Impact of Census Timeline Changes on the Next Round of Redistricting ByYurij Rudensky, Michael Li, and Gabriella Lim6n PUBLISHED APRIL 22,2021 All states redraw their legislative and congres- sional districts every 10 years to comply with the constitutional mandate that districts be equally populated. States draw these districts using block-level data from the census conducted every decade. Under normal circumstances, states would have received this data by March 31, 2021. However, the Covid-19 emergency forced the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Census Bureau to alter census field operations and data-processing proto- cols, resulting in a delayed timeline for releasing data.1 On February 12, 2021, the Census Bureau announced that it would release the state population totals used to appor- tion congressional seats around April 30, 2021; that it would make granular redistricting population data avail- able to states in a disaggregated and untabulated legacy format by mid-to-late August 2021;2 and that states could expect final data delivery by September 30, 2021.3 The Commerce Department and the Census Bureau have said that this timeline is necessary to ensure high-quality data suitable for redistricting and other uses. While necessary, these changes will affect the legal or customary redistricting timelines of most states. In many, it will also require changes to deadlines and processes set by state law. As a result, states may need to adjust candidate filing periods and/or move primary election dates. The new census schedule will not absolve states of their constitutional obligation to redistrict once new census data becomes available, even if they can no longer meet intended deadlines.4 If states do not make the adjust- ments necessary to complete redistricting in a timely fash- ion, courts will then need to step in and draw temporary maps to ensure that legally compliant districts are in place for upcoming elections - a power they have used in the past.5 This memorandum examines = state-law deadlines for redrawing congressional and legislative district boundaries that will need to change to accommodate the later delivery of redistricting data, and a the potential impact on upcoming state and federal elections. Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law 1

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