Data for congressional and legislative redistricting in New Jersey will be released on by September 30, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today.
That closes the door to a new map for legislative districts in time for the 2021 elections, activating a 2020 constitutional amendment that allows the 2011 map to be extended through this year’s election.
The cutoff for a new map was February 15.
Receipt of census data at the end of September will set off a scramble to draw new congressional districts in time for the 2022 primary election.
The new legislative map, which will be drawn after the November 8, 2021 general election, will go into effect for the 2023 election.
New Jersey cannot officially begin the process of drawing new maps until the count is certified, even though many political cartographers have already begun sketching out maps using 2018 census estimates.
The Census Bureau traditionally fast-tracks New Jersey and four other states that hold odd-year legislative elections that are out of sync with federal races, but they are under no legal obligation to do so.
In 2011, census data was released on February 3. One month later, the New Jersey Apportionment Commissioner declared itself deadlock and Chief Justice Stuart Rabner appointed a tie-breaker, Rutgers professor Alan Rosenthal.
The new map came four weeks after that – just eight days before the filing deadline.
Nothing favors incumbents and strong political party organizations more than a tiny window of time between the approval of a map and the filing deadline.
The 2001 primary election was moved to June 25 after the Census Bureau waited until March 8 to deliver data to New Jersey.
The reapportionment commission did not approve their plan until April 12, just a week before the filing deadline. The process was delayed in part because a federal agreed to hear an appeal from Republicans who ran state government at the time in a bit to overturn a new map that strongly favored Democrats.
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November 19, 2020 -
