Census may delay data release if forced to disclose records

The U.S. Census Bureau could be forced to delay even further the release of redistricting data used for drawing congressional and legislative districts if it’s ordered to disclose more records in response to a lawsuit, the agency’s chief scientist said in court papers this week.

The redistricting data is set to be made public by the middle of next month. That could be postponed by as much as six additional months, however, if the statistical agency is ordered to release more records dealing with how it counted people living in what it refers to as “group quarters,” Census Bureau Chief Scientist John Abowd said in a declaration.

The bureau designates group quarters as dormitories, prisons, nursing homes and group homes.

The release of the redistricting data already was postponed by five months from its original March 31 deadline because of delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, sending states scrambling to revise redistricting deadlines. Two states, Ohio and Alabama, sued the Census Bureau in an unsuccessful effort to get it to release the data before August.

“The effect on the schedule for delivering redistricting data would likely be substantial,” Abowd said of any potential order to disclose further group quarter records.

The Republican advocacy group, Fair Lines America Foundation, sued the Census Bureau in a public records lawsuit for information about how the census count was conducted in group quarters. The group says it’s concerned about the accuracy of that count and wants to make sure anomalies didn’t affect the state population figures used for divvying up congressional seats among the states.

The group facilities were among the most difficult places to count people during the 2020 census because the pandemic forced colleges to shutter dorms and send students home, and nursing homes and other facilities restricted access in an effort to protect vulnerable residents from the virus.

Abowd said that if the Census Bureau is required to release additional records as part of the Fair Lines lawsuit it will need as much as six months to recalibrate a new statistical tool meant to protect people’s privacy so that they can’t be identified through the data.

Delaying the release of the redistricting data past Aug. 16 could get the Census Bureau in trouble with a federal court in Ohio. As part of a settlement of the state of Ohio’s lawsuit, the Census Bureau promised to release the redistricting data no later than Aug. 16.