Decennial Census P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data
May 08, 2017
CRVRDO
P.L. 94-171 Redistricting Data

Public Law 94-171, enacted by Congress in December 1975, requires the Census Bureau to provide the states with the small area census data necessary for legislative redistricting. The law also requires that the Census Bureau deliver this data no later than one year from Census day.

While P.L. 94-171 requires the Census Bureau to furnish only counts of the total population, additional data items are included. Since the inception of the Census Redistricting Data Program for the 1980 census, the Census Bureau has included summaries for the major race groups specified by the Statistical Programs and Standards Office of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Directive 15 (as issued in 1977 and revised in 1997). Originally, the tabulation groups included White, Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Asian/Pacific Islander, plus “some other race.” These race data were also cross-tabulated by Hispanic/Non-Hispanic origin. At the request of the state legislatures and the Department of Justice, for the 1990 Census Redistricting Data Program, voting age (18 years old and over) was added to the cross-tabulation of race and Hispanic origin.

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/rdo/summary-files.html

ARTICLE II. THE LEGISLATURE

/snip

§ 17. Legislative Reapportionment Commission.
(a) In each year following the year of the Federal decennial
census, a Legislative Reapportionment Commission shall be
constituted for the purpose of reapportioning the Commonwealth.
The commission shall act by a majority of its entire membership.
(b) The commission shall consist of five members: four of
whom shall be the majority and minority leaders of both the
Senate and the House of Representatives, or deputies appointed
by each of them, and a chairman selected as hereinafter
provided. No later than 60 days following the official reporting
of the Federal decennial census as required by Federal law, the
four members shall be certified by the President pro tempore of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to
the elections officer of the Commonwealth who under law shall
have supervision over elections.
The four members within 45 days after their certification
shall select the fifth member, who shall serve as chairman of
the commission, and shall immediately certify his name to such
elections officer. The chairman shall be a citizen of the
Commonwealth other than a local, State or Federal official
holding an office to which compensation is attached.
If the four members fail to select the fifth member within
the time prescribed, a majority of the entire membership of the
Supreme Court within 30 days thereafter shall appoint the
chairman as aforesaid and certify his appointment to such
elections officer.
Any vacancy in the commission shall be filled within 15 days
in the same manner in which such position was originally filled.
(c) No later than 90 days after either the commission has
been duly certified or the population data for the Commonwealth
as determined by the Federal decennial census are available,
whichever is later in time, the commission shall file a
preliminary reapportionment plan with such elections officer.
The commission shall have 30 days after filing the
preliminary plan to make corrections in the plan.
Any person aggrieved by the preliminary plan shall have the
same 30-day period to file exceptions with the commission in
which case the commission shall have 30 days after the date the
exceptions were filed to prepare and file with such elections
officer a revised reapportionment plan. If no exceptions are
filed within 30 days, or if filed and acted upon, the
commissions's plan shall be final and have the force of law.
(d) Any aggrieved person may file an appeal from the final
plan directly to the Supreme Court within 30 days after the
filing thereof. If the appellant establishes that the final plan
is contrary to law, the Supreme Court shall issue an order
remanding the plan to the commission and directing the
commission to reapportion the Commonwealth in a manner not
inconsistent with such order.
(e) When the Supreme Court has finally decided an appeal or
when the last day for filing an appeal has passed with no appeal
taken, the reapportionment plan shall have the force of law and
the districts therein provided shall be used thereafter in
elections to the General Assembly until the next reapportionment
as required under this section 17.
(f) Any district which does not include the residence from
which a member of the Senate was elected whether or not
scheduled for election at the next general election shall elect
a Senator at such election.
(g) The General Assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds
for the compensation and expenses of members and staff appointed
by the commission, and other necessary expenses. The members of
the commission shall be entitled to such compensation for their
services as the General Assembly from time to time shall
determine, but no part thereof shall be paid until a preliminary
plan is filed. If a preliminary plan is filed but the commission
fails to file a revised or final plan within the time
prescribed, the commission members shall forfeit all right to
compensation not paid.
(h) If a preliminary, revised or final reapportionment plan
is not filed by the commission within the time prescribed by
this section, unless the time be extended by the Supreme Court
for cause shown, the Supreme Court shall immediately proceed on
its own motion to reapportion the Commonwealth.
(i) Any reapportionment plan filed by the commission, or
ordered or prepared by the Supreme Court upon the failure of the
commission to act, shall be published by the elections officer
once in at least one newspaper of general circulation in each
senatorial and representative district. The publication shall
contain a map of the Commonwealth showing the complete
reapportionment of the General Assembly by districts, and a map
showing the reapportionment districts in the area normally
served by the newspaper in which the publication is made. The
publication shall also state the population of the senatorial
and representative districts having the smallest and largest
population and the percentage variation of such districts from
the average population for senatorial and representative
districts.
(Apr. 23, 1968, P.L.App.3, Prop. No.2; Nov. 3, 1981, P.L.601,
J.R.1; May 15, 2001, 2000 P.L.1057, J.R.1)

2001 Amendment. Joint Resolution No.1 of 2000 relettered
subsec. (f) to subsec. (g), subsec. (g) to subsec. (h) and
subsec. (h) to subsec. (i) and added a new subsec. (f).
1981 Amendment. Joint Resolution No.1 amended subsecs. (a)
and (b).
1968 Amendment. Proposal No.2 amended and renumbered former
section 18 to present section 17. The schedule to Proposal No.2
provided that section 17, if approved by the electorate voting
on April 23, 1968, shall become effective the year following
that in which the next Federal decennial census is officially
reported as required by Federal law.
Prior Provisions. Former section 17 was amended and
consolidated with present section 16 by amendment of April 23,
1968, P.L.App.3, Prop. No.1.

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=00&div=0&chpt=2&sctn=17&subsctn=0

ARTICLE VII
ELECTIONS

/snip

§ 9. Fixing election districts.

Townships and wards of cities or boroughs shall form or be divided into election districts of compact and contiguous territory and their boundaries fixed and changed in such manner as may be provided by law.

(Nov. 6, 1928, 1927 P.L.1043, J.R.6; Nov. 2, 1943, P.L.917, J.R.1)

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=00&div=0&chpt=7


ARTICLE IX
LOCAL GOVERNMENT

/snip

§ 11. Local reapportionment.
Within the year following that in which the Federal decennial
census is officially reported as required by Federal law, and at
such other times as the governing body of any municipality shall
deem necessary, each municipality having a governing body not
entirely elected at large shall be reapportioned, by its
governing body or as shall otherwise be provided by uniform law,
into districts which shall be composed of compact and contiguous
territory as nearly equal in population as practicable, for the
purpose of describing the districts for those not elected at
large.

https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/LI/consCheck.cfm?txtType=HTM&ttl=00&div=0&chpt=9

Hogan on high court ruling: ‘Gerrymandering is wrong, and both parties are guilty’

By
Jenna Portnoy
June 27, 2019 at 1:39 p.m. EDT

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vowed Thursday to keep pushing for an independent redistricting overhaul in the state, putting him at odds with the Democrats who control the legislature, after the Supreme Court declined to throw out Maryland’s congressional map.

Hogan (R) said he will reintroduce a bill calling for the state to place the drawing of congressional districts in the hands of a nonpartisan commission, instead of the General Assembly, where Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both chambers. But Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. said only a national solution will do, placing the onus on President Trump and Congress to create a set of rules for states to follow.

The high court reversed a 2018 order directing Maryland to redraw the 6th District, which stretches from conservative Western Maryland to liberal Montgomery County, before the 2020 election. Residents of the district had sued the state, arguing that the boundaries were unfairly refashioned after the 2010 Census to move Republican voters out and shift Democratic voters in. But the court — which earlier this month ruled that Virginia’s House Republicans did not have the legal right to challenge a decision that some of the state’s legislative districts were racially gerrymandered — said federal courts don’t have a role in deciding partisan gerrymandering claims.

“Today’s ruling was terribly disappointing to all who believe in fair elections,” said Hogan, who has drawn attention this year as a moderate Republican reelected in a blue state. “I pledge to vigorously continue this fight, both in Maryland and across our nation. Gerrymandering is wrong, and both parties are guilty.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/heres-what-the-supreme-court-ruling-on-gerrymandering-means-for-maryland/2019/06/27/755f6dcc-92b9-11e9-b570-6416efdc0803_story.html

The Supreme Court decided not to decide Wisconsin’s gerrymandering case. But here’s why it will be back.

By Barry C. Burden and David T. Canon
June 19, 2018 at 7:00 a.m. EDT

On Monday, the Supreme Court surprised observers by deciding not to decide Gill v. Whitford, the high-profile case about partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin. Instead, the court remanded the case back to Wisconsin district court to give the plaintiffs “an opportunity” to provide better evidence about whether they had the right to bring the suit at all. That means the litigation about partisan gerrymandering is likely to continue. While any subsequent decision will come too late to affect the 2018 elections, it’s certainly possible cases will be decided in time to affect the 2020 elections. So what did they decide?

Standing is the first hurdle

For a case expected to reveal clear differences of opinion among the justices, the decision in Gill v Whitford was surprisingly unanimous. But that doesn’t mean the justices agree about the case. Rather, they agreed about procedure: The plaintiffs did not have “standing” to bring the lawsuit. Opponents of gerrymandering had feared the justices would conclude that partisan gerrymandering — slanting the makeup of congressional districts to favor a particular party — was none of the courts’ business. That didn’t happen; the justices didn’t even consider that question.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/06/19/the-supreme-court-decided-not-to-decide-wisconsins-gerrymandering-case-but-heres-why-it-will-be-back/

Article XIX

Section 1. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the general assembly shall be responsible for the redistricting of this state for congress based on the prescribed number of congressional districts apportioned to the state pursuant to Section 2 of Article I of the Constitution of the United States.

Not later than the last day of September of a year ending in the numeral one, the general assembly shall pass a congressional district plan in the form of a bill by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members of each house of the general assembly, including the affirmative vote of at least one-half of the members of each of the two largest political parties represented in that house. A congressional district plan that is passed under this division and becomes law shall remain effective until the next year ending in the numeral one, except as provided in Section 3 of this article.

(B) If a congressional district plan is not passed not later than the last day of September of a year ending in the numeral one and filed with the secretary of state in accordance with Section 16 of Article II of this constitution, then the Ohio redistricting commission described in Article XI of this constitution shall adopt a congressional district plan not later than the last day of October of that year by the affirmative vote of four members of the commission, including at least two members of the commission who represent each of the two largest political parties represented in the general assembly. The plan shall take effect upon filing with the secretary of state and shall remain effective until the next year ending in the numeral one, except as provided in Section 3 of this article.

(C) (1) If the Ohio redistricting commission does not adopt a plan not later than the last day of October of a year ending in the numeral one, then the general assembly shall pass a congressional district plan in the form of a bill not later than the last day of November of that year.

(2) If the general assembly passes a congressional district plan under division (C)(1) of this section by the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members of each house of the general assembly, including the affirmative vote of at least one-third of the members of each of the two largest political parties represented in that house, and the plan becomes law, the plan shall remain effective until the next year ending in the numeral one, except as provided in Section 3 of this article.

(3) If the general assembly passes a congressional district plan under division (C)(1) of this section by a simple majority of the members of each house of the general assembly, and not by the vote described in division (C)(2) of this section, all of the following shall apply:

(a) The general assembly shall not pass a plan that unduly favors or disfavors a political party or its incumbents.

(b) The general assembly shall not unduly split governmental units, giving preference to keeping whole, in the order named, counties, then townships and municipal corporations.

(c) Division (B)(2) of Section 2 of this article shall not apply to the plan. The general assembly shall attempt to draw districts that are compact.

(d) The general assembly shall include in the plan an explanation of the plan's compliance with divisions (C)(3)(a) to (c) of this section.

(e) If the plan becomes law, the plan shall remain effective until two general elections for the United States house of representatives have occurred under the plan, except as provided in Section 3 of this article.