PA State Data Center & State's Participation in Census Redistricting Data Program
The Pennsylvania State Data Center (PaSDC) played a key role in supporting the redistricting efforts in Pennsylvania following the 2020 Census. As the Commonwealth’s official source for population and socio-economic statistics, PaSDC provided Geographic Information Systems (GIS) support to ensure the accuracy of voting district boundaries across the state.
The PaSDC's involvement began in 2017 with Phase 2 of the Census Redistricting Data Program. During this phase, PaSDC worked closely with local counties, the Legislative Data Processing Center (LDPC), and the Department of State to collect and verify voting district data. This process involved gathering shapefiles (geographic data formats) from counties, verifying updates, and submitting the corrected data to the Census Bureau.
For Phase 3, PaSDC prepared for the delayed release of the 2020 Census Redistricting Data, scheduled for September 2021. The center developed specialized programs to process the forthcoming "legacy" data format, ensuring the redistricting process could move forward efficiently and accurately.
On August 24, 2021, the Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted 3-to-2 to implement a significant change in how incarcerated individuals are counted for redistricting purposes. This decision shifted the classification of roughly 40,000 state prisoners from being counted as residents of the districts where they are incarcerated to their home districts. This change added complexity to the work of delivering census and redistricting data, as the commission had to adjust the data to reassign these individuals back to their original communities, predominantly in urban areas.
- Official Census Redistricting Data Page [Link]
- Official Pennsylvania Redistrict Site [Link]
- PaSDC's Approach for Split Blocks [Link]
- Examples Of Discontiguous Voting Districts [Link]
- Official Census Redistricting Data Page [Link]
- Testimony Legislative Reappointment Commission Hearing 2021 [Link]
- Testimony House State Government Committee Hearing 2021 [Link]
- Joint Hearing Regarding Delays in 2020 Census[Link]