NPR (AUDIO): 6-Month Delay In Census Redistricting Data Could Throw Elections Into Chaos

NPR (AUDIO): 6-Month Delay In Census Redistricting Data Could Throw Elections Into Chaos

There's a tension between the bureau having enough time to produce accurate information and states and localities having to meet redistricting deadlines. And that could create ideal conditions for gerrymandering, says Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause, a government watchdog group. "There is a quiet conversation going on in legislatures right now about whether the delay actually might be a helpful game changer to allow them to pass midnight bills and do the dirty work outside of the scrutiny of the public," Feng says.  "We are heading into a redistricting cycle where it will be a bare-knuckle battle for control," Feng says. "Those who are in power are going to use every tool in the toolbox to try to eke out a win. And if that means passing gerrymandered maps in the dead of night, they're going to do it."

The 2020 census data needed for the redrawing of voting districts around the country are extremely delayed and now expected by Sept. 30.

A senior Democratic aide who was briefed by the Census Bureau on Friday, but not authorized to speak ahead of the bureau’s planned public announcement, first confirmed the schedule change to NPR earlier on Friday.

Then, in a statement, the bureau said the timing shift allows it to “deliver complete and accurate redistricting data in a more timely fashion overall for the states,” which are expected to receive the information at the same time rather than on a rolling basis as after past head counts.

Dogged by the coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration’s interference with the census schedule, the latest expected release date — six months past the March 31 legal deadline — could throw upcoming elections into chaos in states facing tight redistricting deadlines for Congress, as well as state and local offices. …

Redistricting experts say the later in September the data are delivered, the more states expected to have to scramble to finish drawing new maps in time for the 2022 elections. …

Delays in finishing this process, which started later than usual because of the pandemic, have resulted in a delicate situation.  There’s a tension between the bureau having enough time to produce accurate information and states and localities having to meet redistricting deadlines. And that could create ideal conditions for gerrymandering, says Kathay Feng, national redistricting director for Common Cause, a government watchdog group.

“There is a quiet conversation going on in legislatures right now about whether the delay actually might be a helpful game changer to allow them to pass midnight bills and do the dirty work outside of the scrutiny of the public,” Feng says.

That “dirty work” could include using the time crunch as an excuse for rushing the approval of maps that benefit one political party over another or distort community representation — all while public hearings and other transparency efforts are shortchanged.

“We are heading into a redistricting cycle where it will be a bare-knuckle battle for control,” Feng says. “Those who are in power are going to use every tool in the toolbox to try to eke out a win. And if that means passing gerrymandered maps in the dead of night, they’re going to do it.”