U.S. Census delays may complicate California’s 2022 elections

Setbacks from the pandemic leave the California Citizens Redistricting Commission scrambling to redraw state political boundaries.

Natalie Willis, Editor-in-Chief • April 19, 2021

U.S. Census delays may complicate California’s 2022 elections

Photo courtesy of Photo by Enayet Raheem on Unsplash

On Feb. 12, the United States Census Bureau announced the delivery of redistricting data to the states has been pushed back to Sept. 30 due to COVD-19 related delays, almost six months later than legal deadlines.

The Census Bureau, delivered every 10 years, will diverge from previous censuses by releasing the data for all states at once.

MAPPING POLITICS

Every 10 years, California must re-establish the boundaries of its districts to reflect new and shifting populations utilizing data from the federal census.

In 2008, California voters decided to remove the task of redrawing state lines from politicians leading to the formation of the California Citizens Districting Commission. Through its website, citizens can participate in the redistricting process and submit their own district maps for the panel to consider.

California uses an independent commission made of 14 citizens—five Democrats, five Republicans and four that are not affiliated with either party—who will be responsible for drawing the new district lines. The first eight commissioners were randomly selected on July 2 who then selected the final six commissioners, according to BallotPedia.

According to The Mercury News, the new maps will greatly affect who wields political power in the state for the next decade.

THE CENSUS DELAY

Before California can hold its primary election, the state has to receive population data from the most recent Census in order to create district maps so that candidates know who they are running against and what they will be running to represent, according to Cal Matters.

In an interview with U.S. News & World Report, Sacramento redistricting consultant Paul Mitchell explained that both potential candidates and election administrators are affected by the delayed census data.

“It would be impossible for them to collect signatures when they don’t know what the lines are,” Mitchell said. “All these things, they’re all asking for time, and it’s all just getting crazy compressed because of this late census data.”

The California Supreme Court already has pushed back the deadline for the state’s redistricting commission to finalize new maps from Aug. 15 to Dec. 15. However, that was done based on the assumption that the U.S. census data would be released by July 31. Now, because of the continually changing deadline, California primary elections may be affected, according to NPR News.

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About the Contributor

Natalie Willis, Editor-in-Chief

Natalie Willis is a junior journalism major who loves golden retrievers, Wes Anderson movies and rainy days. Hi! I am from Bakersfield, CA, land of cows and oil rigs. Growing up on a farm with a veterinarian father, I assumed I would follow in his footsteps to pursue a career in agriculture. God had other plans. Reluctantly, I listened but had every intention to switch my major from journalism to pretty much anything else. Half way through my freshman year, I was working on a portfolio project which involved pitching ideas, interviewing sources and telling a story—suddenly, everything clicked into place. I loved what I was doing, who I was meeting and where I thought I could go. God has a way of telling us we are on the right path and I have felt that throughout my college career. Three years ago, if someone told me I would be the editor-in-chief of a student news publication I would have politely advised them to seek counseling. Now, I cannot imagine a life without tight story deadlines and strict adherence to AP style. I am so excited to lead The Chimes this year as we enter into a new era of print media.