Why Do My Voting Districts Look Different?* A peek into the review, processing, and updating of Voting Districts into the MAF/TIGER Database Jennie Karalewich Census Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office * They may not look different

Agenda for Today’s Presentation Census Geography Phase 2: Voting District Project Overview File Review Process Performing Verification Data Submission Guidelines

Census Geography

Census Geography Geography provides the framework for survey design, sample selection, data collection, tabulation, and dissemination for the Decennial Census, intracensal surveys, and collections MAF/TIGER Database Roads Legal Boundaries Statistical Boundaries Administrative Boundaries Rails Water

Boundary Types Statistical Administrative Legal States (and equivalents) Counties County subdivisions (Towns & townships) Places (Incorporated) Tribal areas (Reservations and trust land) Administrative Election areas School districts Statistical Regions Divisions (Census county divisions) Places (Census designated) Tribal areas (Statistical areas) Census tracts Block groups Tabulation blocks Metropolitan/Micropolitan areas Urban areas ZCTAs

Hierarchy of Census Geographic Entities

Census Blocks The smallest geographic areas that the Census Bureau uses to tabulate decennial data. Statistical areas bounded by visible features, such as streets, roads, streams, and railroad tracks, and by nonvisible boundaries, such as selected property lines and city, township, school district, voting district, and county limits. Generally small in area; for example, a block in a city bounded on all sides by streets. In rural areas, a block may be hundreds of square miles

How It All Fits Together: Census Geography

How It All Fits Together: Census Topology Vertex Edge Node Face Linear Feature

How It All Fits Together: Census Topology (Route 100) LINEAR FEATURE: Fairview Ave /S1400 LINEAR FEATURE: Route 100 /S1400 Boundary Fairview Township/ Lee Township Edge

How It All Fits Together: Census Topology Voting District Edges Incorporated Place Integrated Layer County

Voting District Project Overview

Phase 2: Voting District Project Timeline Activity Date Initial Delineation December 2017 – May 2018 Verification I December 2018 – May 2019 Verification II December 2019 – March 2020 Activities States provide their Election Districts/Precincts/Wards States can review linear features Add/Delete features Correct misaligned features Update Area Landmark (state parks, prisons, etc.) boundaries Suggest updates to legal boundaries

A Look Back at Voting District Project (VTD) Florida Participation Rate 67/67 Counties 100% 9 counties submitted BAS Updates Nationwide Participation Rate 2729/3219 Counties 85% All counties will be submitting VTDV Updates !

VTD Verification (VTDV) Timeline Activity Date Initial Delineation December 2017 – May 2018 Verification I December 2018 – May 2019 Verification II December 2019 – March 2020 Activities States provide their Election Districts/Precincts/Wards States can review linear features Add/Delete features Correct misaligned features Update Area Landmark (state parks, prisons, etc.) boundaries Suggest updates to legal boundaries

VTD and VTDV Timeline 2018-2019 January May August October Counties submit updates to the Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) for Review Counties review their data and make VTD/V Updates EDR reviews the updates to the Census Bureau EDR submits the updates to the Census Bureau CRVRDO reviews the updates to ensure they meet MAF/TIGER standards CRVRDO submits the updates to the Geography Division Updates are applied to the MAF/TIGER Database Updates are reflected in the partnership shapefiles (Dec/Jan)

VTDV2 Timeline Activities Activity Date Initial Delineation December 2017 – May 2018 Verification I December 2018 – May 2019 Verification II December 2019 – March 2020 Activities States make final adjustments to ensure that VTDs and legal boundaries are aligned

VTDV2 Timeline 2020 January March Summer Counties submit updates to the Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) for Review Counties review their data and make VTDV 2 Updates to align geographies EDR reviews the updates to the Census Bureau EDR submits the updates to the Census Bureau CRVRDO reviews the updates to ensure they meet MAF/TIGER standards CRVRDO submits the updates to the Geography Division Updates are applied to the MAF/TIGER Database

Something to Keep in Mind Ongoing Geographic Update Operations until 2020 American Indian and Alaskan Native Programs Boundary and Annexation Survey School District Review Local Update of Census Addresses Participant Statistical Areas Program Geographic Support System (GSS) New Construction

Why does my data look different?* * Again it may not look different

Legislative Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR) Review Process Ensure the files meet VTD Submission Guidelines Work with counties to resolve issues prior to Census Submission Review submission files for completeness and correctness GIS Review of data

CRVRDO File Review Process Coverage Gaps Attribute Checks Small Areas Multiple Cycles VTD Boundaries Add Lines Overlaps* Medians* Gaps* Slivers * Proposed for VTDV

CRVRDO File Review Process- Coverage Gaps Why: We ensure that there is wall to wall coverage for the VTDs in the county How to fix: If it is unclear in which VTD the unassigned area belongs in, we reach out to the state

CRVRDO File Review Process- Attributes Why: Certain attributes are required for the file to be inserted into the MAF/TIGER database How to fix: We can add the missing attributes and contact the state to make the updates in future submissions

CRVRDO File Review Process- Small Areas Why: Small VTDs may be remnants from 2010 VTDs How to fix: For Florida, we generally accept these due to the unique voting district geographies. If it seems out of place, we reach out

CRVRDO File Review Process- Multiple Cycles Why: Pieces of non- contiguous VTDs may be remnants from previous VTDs How to fix: For Florida, we generally accept these due to the unique voting district geographies. If it seems out of place, we reach out

CRVRDO File Review Process- VTD Boundaries Why: VTDs need to have boundaries that are based on current or new edges that have been added by the participant. How to fix: Depending on the number of edges needed, we can complete in house or send back to EDR

CRVRDO File Review Process- Add Lines Why: Due to MAF/TIGER Topology and processing standards, incorrect spatial features need to be deleted from existing TIGER and re-added. How to fix: Depending on the number of edges, we can complete in house or send back to EDR Pink Line- Existing Edge Green Line- Where the edge should be

CRVRDO File Review Process- Add Lines Why: The reshapes were done correctly….however MAF/TIGER has an accuracy of 7.6 meters How to fix: Both the Adds and Deletes would be removed. Red Line- delete Green Line- add

CRVRDO File Review Process- Incomplete BAS Why: To perform BAS type updates, both the lines and the faces need to be moved and flagged How to fix: We usually return the file for correction or strip out the BAS updates Pink Line- Existing Edge Green Line- Add Line Gray Area- Incorporated Place

CRVRDO File Review Process- Overlaps Why: TIGER faces can only be assigned to a single VTD How to fix: We reach out to EDR for guidance

CRVRDO File Review Process- Medians Why: 7.6 m accuracy, no housing units, Lanes may already be block boundaries How to fix: We will remove the new line and align the boundary to the road. If there are multiple instances, we may send the file back to EDR Green Line- Add Line Yellow Lines- Existing dual carriageway

CRVRDO File Review Process- Gaps Why: VTDs need edges for their boundaries, if there is a gap, the VTD will “bleed” through the gap How to fix: Depending on the number of edges, we can extend the edges in house or send back to EDR

Slivers- When Geographies Do Not Align Slivers are small blocks created when the Voting District boundary and nearby legal boundaries or highways do not align The sliver boundaries mirror existing boundaries or highways They generally do not have populations They are generally small in area If the slivers are not resolved, they will become Census blocks However, slivers may be unavoidable in certain circumstances

Slivers! In this example, VTD boundaries are in the road centerline Incorporated Place boundaries are along the property line VTD Boundary Inc Place Boundary

Slivers! Unresolved: There is the potential for 4 blocks in this image 1 Unresolved: There is the potential for 4 blocks in this image 3 of which would be slivers zero population small area 4 2 3

Slivers! To resolve this, we aligned the VTD boundary to the incorporated place boundary 1

Slivers! 1 2 3 5 6 10 9 8 7 4 11

Slivers! Incorporated Place layer VTD layer

Slivers!

Slivers! 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

When Slivers Are Unavoidable Slivers are accepted: When the geography does not align Laws or legislation require the VTD boundary to a specific location i.e. In Louisiana, VTD boundaries must follow visible feature When there is population/housing units in the sliver area

Boundary Quality and Reconciliation Project The goal of the BQARP is to assess, analyze, and improve the spatial quality of legal and administrative boundaries within the MTDB BQARP aligns boundaries to parcel and Public Land Survey System boundaries where applicable Once a boundary has gone through BQARP, it is “locked”, meaning it cannot be moved, avoiding incidental changes

BQARP in Florida 367 entities 21,303 total changes statewide Most changes were in place for VTD updates in 2018 Green- old place boundaries Red- 2018 place boundaries

Resolving Slivers Generally voting districts boundaries should align with legal boundaries If the legal boundary is wrong, the change can be submitted to our BAS team who will review the change (annexation or deannexation) Please do not realign the legal boundaries to match the Voting District Boundaries If you are seeing discrepancies please reach out to our office

Performing Verification

Review Voting Districts and Geography Voting District Verification (2019) Review VTDs Review VTD Attributes Make any linear feature updates Make any legal boundary updates Make any area landmark update Voting District Verification 2 (2020) Review VTDs Review VTD Attributes Make any linear feature updates Make any legal boundary updates Make any area landmark updates

What if I used the 2010 Voting Districts? The 2010 boundaries were conflated to 2017 TIGER data Boundaries may not be aligned to the same features due to TIGER updates Please review the boundaries conflated to the correct location The following counties submitted their 2010 VTD boundaries: Bradford, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Holmes, Lake, Liberty, Madison, Monroe, Santa Rosa, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, and Wakulla

Data Submission Guidelines

Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles Required VTD Shapefiles: vtdv19_<ssccc>_complete_vtd

Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles Required Linear Features Shapefiles: vtdv19_<ssccc>_ln_changes

Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles Required BAS Changes Shapefiles: vtdv19_<ssccc>_changes_<type of geography> vtdv19_<ssccc>_wholeentity__<type of geography> vtdv19_<ssccc>_ln_changes (if applicable) Types of Geography include: incplace, cousub, concity

Review of VTD Submission Shapefiles Required Area Landmark Features Shapefiles: vtdv19_<ssccc>_alndk_changes

Thanks! Voting District Verification Project Webinar January 10th, 2019 2-4pm EST Web link: https://censusevent.webex.com/censusevent/onstage/g.php?MTID=e58b1d0535aa60a31964eca7195b1a0d1 Dial-In-Number: 800-857-9878 Passcode: 8932022 Please RSVP to rdo@census.gov For More Information: Census Redistricting and Voting Rights Data Office Jennie Karalewich jennie.karalewich@census.gov rdo@census.gov 301-763-4039

Creation of Census Blocks Tabulation blocks are built from an algorithm which assigns edges values* Boundaries for geographic entities have the highest value Primary roads (e.g. state highways) generally have a higher value than neighborhood roads Named neighborhood roads generally have a higher value than unnamed neighborhood roads Neighborhood roads generally have a higher value than service roads or ramps Roads generally have a higher value than power lines * Edges flagged as Must Holds will be held as block boundaries