Detailed census data needed for redistricting won't be ready until late Sept., causing 'chain reaction in the political world'

The Bureau of the Census said Friday that due to the pandemic, it won't provide data needed for redistricting until late September, causing "headaches for state lawmakers and redistricting commissions facing deadlines to redraw districts this year," writes Mike Schneider of The Associated Press.

The bureau "had previously said the redistricting data would be available no earlier than the end of July because of delays caused by the virus," Schneider notes. "Before the pandemic, the deadline for finishing the redistricting data had been March 31." Departing from past practice, the bureau will issue all the data at once, rather than releasing it state by state.

"The delayed release creates a chain reaction in the political world," Schneider writes. "Several states will not get the data until after their legal deadlines for drawing new districts, requiring them to either rewrite laws or ask courts to allow them a free pass due to the delay. Candidates may not know yet whether they will live in the district they want to run in by the filing deadline. In some cases, if fights over new maps drag into the New Year, primaries may have to be delayed. . . . The biggest impact will be to compress the window during which lawyers can challenge bad maps in court."

Eric Holder, who was attorney general in the Obama administration and chairs the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said the delay shouldn’t be “a pretext to hold 2022 elections on old maps” for political advantage, "or to draw maps without significant public input, using the compressed timetable as an excuse," Schneider reports.