Table of Contents
Contact
The materials listed here were presented at various NCSL meetings and, in particular, to the NCSL Redistricting and Elections Committee. Topics of these presentations include data used in redistricting, the legal issues and cases that have been decided, the procedure for redistricting and the technology used for drawing the lines.
These materials reflect the views of the authors and are not the views or position of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Data/Census
- 2020 Census Redistricting Data Program, James Whitehorne, U.S. Census Bureau (2015)
- The 2020 Census: A New Design for the 21st Century, Deirdre Dalpiaz Bishop, U.S. Census Bureau (2015)
- Update on the Census 2015 National Content Test Race and Ethnic Research, Nicholas A. Jones, U.S. Census Bureau (2015)
- 2020 Census: Program Overview, Testing, and Technological Innovations, Lisa M. Blumerman & James Whitehorne, U.S. Census Bureau (2015)
- Graphic Recording Chart, U.S. Census Bureau: Updating on the Reengineering of the 2020 U.S. Census Redistricting Data Program (2015)
- Briefing on Mid-Decade Census Bureau Race and Ethnic Research Plans, Nicholas A. Jones, Director, Race & Ethnic Research and Outreach Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau (2014)
- Using Census Data for Legislative District Research (2014)
- The American Community Survey and State Legislative Districts, Dr. Nancy A. Potok, Deputy Director and Chief Operations Officer, U.S. Census Bureau (2013)
- 2010 Census Data Prisoner Adjustment, Debra Levine, Executive Director, Taskforce on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (2012)
- 2010 Census Redistricting Data: What You Should Know, Cathy McCully, Chief, Redistricting Data Office, United State Census Bureau (2011)
- Building a Redistricting Database, Kimball Brace, Election Data Services, Virginia (2011)
- Census Review . . . And Look Forward, Cathy McCully & James Whitehorne, Redistricting Data Office, U.S. Census Bureau (2011)
- Citizen Voting Age Data: From a line-drawer's viewpoint, Douglas Johnson, National Demographics Corporation (2011)
- The Exciting World of Redistricting Databases, Karin MacDonald, Statewide Database & Election Administration Research Center, University of California (2011)
- The Redistricting Toolbox, Clark Benson, Polidata (2011)
- Vote Dilution: Measuring Voting Patterns by Race/Ethnicity, Lisa Handley, Director, Frontier International Electoral Consulting (2011)
- American Demographics and the States, Linda A. Jacobsen, Population Reference Bureau (2010)
- Using Citizenship Data for Redistricting, David R. Hanna, Texas Legislative Council (2010)
Law
- Maryland No Representation without Population Act, Michelle Davis, Maryland Department of Legislative Services (2012)
- Redistricting in 2010, J. Gerald Hebert, Campaign Legal Center, Washington, D.C. (2012)
- Texas Redistricting 2011-12: A few lessons learned, David R. Hanna, Senior Legislative Counsel, Legislative Council, Texas Legislature (2012)
- Coalition, Crossover & Influence Districts, Anita Earls, Executive Director, Southern Coalition for Social Justice (2011)
- Compactness in the Redistricting Process, Thomas B. Hofeller, Redistricting Director, Republican National Committee (2010)
- Compactness: The Eye of the Beholder, Kimball Brace, Election Data Services, Virginia (2010)
- Open Sesame: Open Records in the Legislature, Jeff Archer, Chief Legislative Counsel, Texas Legislative Council, Texas (2010)
- Drawing Maps that Will Stand Up in Court, Peter S. Wattson (2010)
- The 50 Percent Rule for Minority Districts, Bill Gilkeson, North Carolina Legislative Research Division
- Thinking About Records from a Litigation Perspective, C. Robert Heath, Attorney, Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta, LLP, Texas (2010)
- Where to Find Redistricting Law: Past & Future, Peter S. Wattson, Senate Counsel, State of Minnesota (2010)
- Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act: Some General Observations, J. Gerald Hebert, Campaign Legal Center, Washington, D.C. (2008)
- Redistricting Law 2010 (NCSL's guidebook for redistricting, also known as the Red Book)
- Redistricting Law 2000, NCSL Redistricting Task Force (1999)
Procedure
- Redistricting 101 webinar, Michelle Davis, senior policy analyst, Maryland General Assembly; Nicholas Pharris, elections information specialist, Elections Division/ Office of the Washington Secretary of State (2019)
- Redistricting: A Mid-Decade Review, Honorable Daniel Ivey-Soto, New Mexico State Senator; Honorable John Murante, Nebraska State Senator; Ted Booth, General Counsel, PEER Committee, Mississippi Legislature; Jeffrey Wice, Special Counsel, State Assembly, New York Legislature (2015)
- Do Redistricting Reforms Work? Evaluating Independent Commissions and New Line-Drawing Criteria (2013)
- Minutes, NCSL’s Redistricting and Elections Task Force (2013)
- 50 Ways to do Redistricting, Tim Storey, NCSL (2011)
- Adopting Guidelines for Redistricting, Peter Wattson, Counsel to the Governor, Minnesota (2011)
- How to Draw Redistricting Plans That Will Stand Up in Court, Peter S. Wattson, Counsel to the Governor, Minnesota (2011)
- LAST CALL: Managing Your Redistricting Operation, Debra Levine, co-executive director, Reapportionment Task Force, New York (2011)
- Redistricting Basics and Terminology, Justin Levitt, Associate Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, California (2011)
- What I've Learned about Redistricting - The Hard Way!, Thomas B. Hofeller, Redistricting Director, Republican National Committee, Washington D.C. (2011)
- 2010 Census is Underway, Steven J. Jost, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. (2010)
- Census A – Z, Cathy McCully, Chief, Redistricting Data Office, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, D.C. (2010)
- Communities of Interest in Redistricting: A key to drawing 2011 plans (and for their defense), Douglas Johnson, National Demographics Corporation, California (2010)
- Community of Interest, Clark Benson, Polidata (2010)
- Electoral Competitiveness Criteria, Bill Bishop, author, The Big Sort, Texas (2010)
- Hands-On Redistricting Simulation, John Guthrie, Staff Director, Committee on Reapportionment, Florida Senate (2010)
- Redistricting Simulation Evaluation, Peter S. Wattson, Senate Counsel, State of Minnesota (2010)
- Kansas Population Adjustment or Legislative Redistricting, Mary Galligan, former Redistricting Staff, Legislative Research Department, Kansas (2010)
- Realistic Guidelines: Making it Work, Jeff Wice, Special Counsel to the Majority, New York State Senate, (2010)
- Redistricting and Competition, Michael P. McDonald, Associate Professor, George Mason University, Virginia (2010)
- Enacting a Redistricting Plan, Peter S. Wattson, Senate Counsel, State of Minnesota (2001)
- Public Access to Redistricting Data in Minnesota, Peter S. Wattson, Senate Counsel, State of Minnesota, (2000)
Technology
- GIS Technology After Redistricting, Richard Leadbeater, Esri (2012)
- Putting Redistricting Software to Work After Redistricting is Over, Clare Dyer, Program Manager, Redistricting and Special Projects (2012)
- Redistricting Software and Data - Post-Redistricting, Howard Simkowitz, Caliper Corporation (2012)
- Geography Matters!, John Guthrie, Staff Director, Senate Reapportionment Committee, Florida (2011)
- Linking the Summary Files to the TIGER/Line Shapefiles, Cathy McCully, Chief, Redistricting Data Office, United State Census Bureau (2011)
- Putting Redistricting Software to Work After Redistricting is Over, Clare Dyer, Legislative Council, Texas (2011)
- Building and Publishing Maps in the Cloud, John Guthrie, Staff Director, Senate Reapportionment Committee, Florida (2010)
- MyDistrictBuilder: Building Districts "in the Clouds", Bob West & J. Alex Kelly, House Office of Reapportionment, Florida House of Representatives (2010)
About This NCSL Project
Redistricting is the process of redrawing state legislative and congressional district boundaries every 10 years by state legislatures following the decennial U.S. Census. NCSL helps prepare legislatures and others for the redistricting cycle with comprehensive information on redistricting law, technology and process. NCSL collects data and information on new legislative and congressional districts.
For more information, contact Wendy Underhill, NCSL Staff Liaison.
Additional Resources