Analysis: Redistricting is boring, and that’s why it’s hazardous to voters
Most voters don’t pay a lot of attention to the redrawing of political maps every 10 years. That’s just the way legislators like it. Full Story
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![The sun sets behind the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., on midterm election day, Nov. 6, 2018.]()
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Texas will gain two seats in Congress as residents of color drive population gains
Texas will have 38 congressional seats as a result of the latest U.S. census. It's one of six states to gain seats, and it's the only state that will get more than one. Full Story
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![A woman walks past the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.]()
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Latest census delay will push Texas' redrawing of political maps into the fall
The Census Bureau now says it will get detailed results of the national population count to states by Sept. 30. That means Gov. Greg Abbott will almost certainly need to call lawmakers back for overtime in the fall to craft new Congressional and legislative districts. Full Story
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![A 2020 Census representative speaks with a resident during a census campaign in New York City in 2020.]()
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Analysis: A delay in drawing new maps this year could slow next year's elections
Delays in the delivery of court-approved political maps have disrupted past elections in Texas. And this year's pandemic-related delays in the U.S. census have raised the possibility of jumbled election plans in 2022. Full Story
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![The 2020 Census questionnaire and other Census documents on April 26, 2020.]()
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Census delays will force Texas lawmakers into a special session to redraw political maps
The Census Bureau revealed Wednesday that the detailed results lawmakers need to reconfigure congressional and state legislative districts won’t be available until at least two months after the end of the regular 2021 legislative session. Full Story
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![The 2020 Census questionnaire on April 26, 2020.]()
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Reversing Donald Trump policy, Joe Biden will include undocumented immigrants in critical census count
President Donald Trump's efforts to exclude undocumented immigrants from congressional representation are out with his administration. But Texas lawmakers still face delays in receiving census results needed to redraw the state's political maps. Full Story
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![An activist holds up a sign urging Americans to fill out the 2020 Census during a rally in New York on Aug. 2, 2020.]()
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Supreme Court says challenge to Donald Trump’s plan to not count undocumented people in congressional reapportionment must wait
A Pew Research Center study this summer found that if the country’s undocumented immigrants were excluded from apportionment, Texas would end up with one less U.S. House seat than otherwise expected. Full Story
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![The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on May 28, 2020.]()
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Republicans kept their grip on Texas government in 2020. In 2021, they'll be able to tighten it.
Because Republicans in the state House and Senate held onto their 20-year majority, they are positioned to further entrench their power until the next redistricting rolls around in 2031. Full Story
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![The Republican Party of Texas office in downtown Austin.]()
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The census doesn’t count Arab Americans. That leaves some Texans feeling invisible.
The census does not include an option for people to identify as Middle Eastern or North African Americans. That leaves Arab Texans to identify as white or “other” on the all-important national count. Full Story
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![Janet Abou-Elias, vice president of the University of Texas at Austin Arab Student Association, outside the Moody College of…]()
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Supreme Court will review Trump plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from calculations for congressional seats
Texas is among the states that could lose congressional seats and federal funds if undocumented immigrants are excluded from crucial calculations. Full Story
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![The United States Supreme Court in Washington on June 11.]()
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Supreme Court says Trump administration can shut down census count now, despite fears of an undercount
Plaintiffs in the case contend that a shortened timeline would result in an undercount of harder-to-count populations, including immigrants, people of color and lower-income groups, depriving them of funding and representation. Full Story
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![A protester holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court where the court ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump's administrat…]()
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Appeals court says census count must continue through the end of the month
The government had requested a stay after a federal judge blocked the administration’s efforts to end the count last week and process the data in time to deliver it to the president for apportionment by a statutory deadline of Dec. 31. Full Story
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![United States Census 2020 mailers sent to Austin. Photographed on June 23, 2020.]()
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The U.S. census will continue through October, paving the way for more Texans to be counted
Experts say the extension could help the historically undercounted state regain lost ground. Texans are already responding to the census at a substantially lower rate than the national average. Full Story
![United States Census 2020 mailers sent to Austin. Photographed on June 23, 2020.]()
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Federal judge blocks Trump administration from stopping census count next week
A federal judge in California late Thursday ordered that the census count should continue until Oct. 31, the date the Census Bureau had planned on before the administration abruptly shortened the count. Full Story
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![Crowds march through Austin in celebration of Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 20, 2020.]()
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Federal court blocks Trump effort to exclude undocumented immigrants when congressional seats are divvied up
Trump's bid to exclude undocumented immigrants from population counts for redistricting could cost Texas three seats in Congress. Thursday's ruling could still be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Full Story
![A protester holds a sign outside the U.S. Supreme Court where the court ruled that U.S. President Donald Trump's administrat…]()
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Judge temporarily halts efforts to end census count early
The ruling is the first in a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration's plans to wind down the count a month early. Democrat-led Harris County joined the challenge last month. Full Story
![United States Census 2020 mailers sent to Austin. Photographed on June 23, 2020.]()
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With time running out, Texas abruptly launches a $15 million ad campaign chasing an accurate census count
After rejecting efforts to spend state money on outreach to help ensure an accurate census count, Republican leaders are now dipping into federal coronavirus relief funds to pay for a last-minute ad campaign. Full Story
![United States Census 2020 mailers sent to Austin. Photographed on June 23, 2020.]()
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Harris County joins federal lawsuit trying to extend time for U.S. census count
After the Trump administration announced an abrupt change to the census deadline, the largest county in Texas is among those suing to keep the count going until October. Full Story
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![Crowds march through Austin in celebration of Martin Luther King Day on Jan. 20, 2020.]()
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TribCast: Reading the political tea leaves on Biden in Texas and a census undercount
On this week's TribCast, Alexa talks to Matthew, Patrick and Cassi about the Biden campaign's recent activity in Texas, the fallout of a census undercount and early indications of what the legislative session might look like in a pandemic. Full Story
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![Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a community event in San Antonio on Dec. 13,…]()
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An abrupt change to the census deadline shortened the response period by a month, increasing fears of an undercount in Texas
The Census Bureau on Monday lopped a month off the time people have to respond to the 2020 count. Texas is already lagging behind the country in response rates, with low-income and Hispanic Texans at high risk of being missed. Full Story
![United States Census 2020 mailers sent to Austin. Photographed on June 23, 2020.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune