HARRISBURG, PA (WSKG) –– Data from last year’s census may not be ready until September, but data and legislative affairs experts say some aspects of the redistricting process can begin before then.
Lawmakers questioned two panels of experts during a hearing Wednesday, aiming to find out how the once-in-a-decade process of Congressional and statehouse district map drawing will be affected by the data delay.
The panels delivered some bad news: the final maps cannot be drawn until that data is in hand.
According to the US Census Bureau’s Chief of Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office James Whitehorn, the extension of the counting deadline to September of last year put census workers behind. They’ll need extra time to produce complete and accurate numbers.